


Graveyard Whistling

by autumnjjong



Category: B.A.P, LOONA (Korea Band), Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 3racha oec and yyxy will show up eventually i promise you, Angst, Curses, F/F, Fluff, Hauntings, M/M, No Smut, Paranormal hunters au, This is a work of fiction, Witches, actually a decent plot, also a lot of bickering but its ok they love each other, brief mentions of abuse, but a lot more happens, it may get a little dark at times ngl, long chaptered fic, loona is kinda minor sorry but it is a skz fic so..., paranormal hunters! Felix hyunjin and minho, pls treat it as such, psychic!minho, shakespeare is quaking, skz centric, slow updates sorry, small town feel, the tragedy will be great
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2019-11-18 19:57:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 45,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18125792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnjjong/pseuds/autumnjjong
Summary: “Most of the time this a peaceful place, nothing but a small mountain town; but every thirteen years something tragic happens, and someone dies. Every time. We know it isn’t just a coincidence because it's happened nineteen times.”Minho paused in his note writing. There was a blue stain on the side of his left hand, where in its haste it had brushed over wet ink. “Thirteen years is a little cliche, don't you think?”Jeongin shrugged. “Tell that to the demon.”Hyunjin, Minho, and Felix are the stars of a moderately popular internet-based ghost-hunting show, and have travelled to a rural town in the middle of the mountains to shoot an episode for an upcoming season.When they arrive there, they realize the situation is much more dire than they could ever have imagined. And worse- they’re right in the middle of it, and may not live to tell the tale.





	1. Beginning of the End

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!! So this is my first fic ever aaa  
> A couple things before we get started:  
> 1\. First and foremost: shipping is fun!! But when it’s taken into real life it’s gone waaay too far. Please leave the real idols out of this & don’t harass them thx  
> 2\. This is a work of fiction  
> 3\. Updating will probably be quite sporadic, since I was stupid and decided to take 6 AP/advanced classes my senior year of high school :’) things should get better after a while but i make no promises  
> 4\. I don’t have a beta, but I reread everything i write like 5 times (part of the reason why I’m so slow lmao) so don’t worry abt grammar/spelling issues, I’ve got it covered  
> 5\. Pwease leave kudos/comments if u found it interesting!!! As an artist i already know what its like to have ppl appreciate ur work (spoiler: feels good) and that’ll probably keep me going more than anything else tbh  
> Anyways... enjoy!!!

**Thrice Hunted group chat**

 

**minho**

our plane takes off in an hour @ felix wya

_[8:14 a.m]_

 

**felix**

i had to run back home to grab extra batteries for the camera

i just got through security no need to worry

_[8:17 a.m]_

 

**hyunjin**

u are aware we can just buy batteries when we get there right

they’re not hard to find

they’re just batteries

_[8:19 a.m]_

 

**felix**

hyunjin,,,,,,

what if they’re like $10 more expensive there tho

its a small town

demand is high supply is low

_[8:22 a.m]_

 

**minho**

is that seriously your argument

_[8:23 a.m]_

**Felix**

well ghosts drain batteries too u know that

its happened before.. remember the m&ms incident

ill never live that down

_[8:25 a.m]_

 

**Hyunjin**

tbh that still doesn’t help ur argument sorry dude

also we board super soon you’d better get here within the next 5 minutes or                      

we leave without you

_[8:31 a.m]_

 

Minho glanced up from his phone to spot a head of orange hair bobbing towards where he and Hyunjin were sitting. Eventually the crowd parted and revealed Felix, who proudly waved a pack of batteries over his head. Hyunjin sighed and returned to scrolling through an old website about their destination.

Outside, the city bustled with movement; skyscrapers disappeared into the clouds as traffic grew congested and sidewalks filled with people from all walks of life. The airport was no different, at least in the foot traffic department; the constant grate of suitcases and voices was occasionally interrupted by announcements made over the tinny intercom, or the rise and fall of a particularly noisy pair of shoes.

Minho had always lived in the city, but more often than not found himself wondering how it would be to live somewhere quieter, where angry drivers tended to speed off in a hurry instead of festering in traffic, or where the dominant color was something bright and lively, as opposed to the drab grey of most of the city. This curiosity was part of why he loved his job/hobby so much- in order to investigate haunted locations, they had to travel to them first. Of course, this wasn’t always a completely pleasant experience, but Minho would be lying if he didn’t prefer it over being stuck at some desk doing something useless and boring in some forty story building downtown.

Right as Felix rolled up to the duo, a calm female voice sounded through the air over their heads.

“Flight 3859, we will begin boarding in just a few moments; our guests with disabilities or young children are welcome to board now.”

Hyunjin shot a pointed look at Felix, who was still breathing heavily from his power walk through the airport; and with that, the three young men joined the throng of travelers waiting to embark.

——

The moment they escaped the miniscule plane, Felix was off and careening the halls of the equally miniscule airport. Hyunjin and Minho shared an exasperated glance before hauling their luggage after Felix at a considerably slower pace.

  
    When they arrived at the entrance, they found Felix leaning against the wall of pale cinder blocks. His casual air spoiled by his chest, which heaved from his manic sprint. His surly attitude from the plane was gone, and Hyunjin reminded himself to keep long distance trips to a minimum, for the sanity of all those who interacted with Felix during the dreaded travel.

  
    "What took you guys so long? I've been waiting for-" the ginger checked his phone- "two minutes.”

  
    Minho tossed Felix his duffel bag, who caught it with a whumpf and a stagger. "We were carrying this. For you."

  
    A short verbal sparring match ensued, being quickly cut off by Hyunjin.

  
    "Our hotel is two blocks away on main street, if we get going now we'll make it before the café next door closes. I don't know about you two, but I'm starving- airplane peanuts are not enough to keep a guy going for a whole day."

  
    Curt nods followed, and promptly the trio was making their way down the cracked, overgrown sidewalk.

  
    Despite a strange silence spurred by an absence of human life, it was a beautiful morning; a dozen songs from a dozen birds welcomed the newcomers to the small town. The sun beat down on the small valley, making the asphalt red-hot enough to threaten the soles of their shoes, but the climate itself was neither hot nor cold. A few wispy clouds lazed their way through the sky and left shallow but formidable shadows on the mountains.

  
    Minho, suddenly noticing the mountains, stopped abruptly to examine them. Being an avid adventurer, he had experienced all kinds of mountains, but never any like these. They erupted dramatically from the gentle valley on which the town stood. They were monstrous, gigantic, prickling with desaturated pines and pale, jagged cliffs, and they almost leaned inward, as if they were about to crush the town. The gentle breeze flowing down the slopes wafted a clean and refreshing scent to his nose, but something about it made Minho shudder. He hurried after the other two, pursing his lips and hoping, praying, that wherever their leads took them, they would never enter the jagged peaks.

———  
  
    An exhausted man with thick, raven black hair and an impressive tattoo peeking out from under his black t-shirt welcomed Felix, Minho, and Hyunjin as they stepped over the threshold into the small café.

  
    "Welcome to Beans and Breakfast. How many are we serving today?"

  
    After they confirmed that there were just three of them, the man led them past the only other patrons- a couple in the corner- to a table next to a large, panoramic window.

  
    "My name is Yongguk and, as we are short on staff this morning, I will also be your waiter." He set down three ragged menus, then continued. "I'll give you a few minutes to decide what you want."

  
    He left, then the couple in the corner left, and suddenly the boys were alone, save for a busboy piling plates and mugs.

The café itself was the epitome of rustic comfort, constructed with logs and decorated with paintings of the mountains and various taxidermied animal heads. Felix glanced at a disembodied elk, his eyes following the graceful curve of its neck before grimacing and looking away. "Why is it that everywhere we go, the towns use dead animals as decoration and the waiters are dead on their feet?"

Hyunjin picked up the menu, glanced over it, and set it down. Felix shrugged to avoid looking awkward when no one answered his question. Minho kept his eyes on the mountains.

  
    A sudden "Oh!" pulled them out of their reverie, and their heads turned in unison as the busboy flushed and floundered at the sudden attention.

  
    "I-i'm sorry, I don't mean to bother you, but would you guys happen to be from Thrice-Hunted?"

  
    Felix raised his eyebrows and glanced at Hyunjin and Minho with an impressed expression. The immediate recognition and excited countenance of the boy was a testament to their hard work- if a teenager in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere knew who they were, their success was great.

  
    "Yeah, I guess."

  
    The boy made a sound like a few audible exclamation marks, then said, "I am, like, a HUGE fan of your work! I mean, not every ghost-hunting show actually manages to catch a ghost on tape! Did you come here to investigate our hauntings? I thought you were on hiatus! Oh, wait a second, shows record new episodes while they're on hiatus. When did you-"

  
    His voice cut off when a hand landed on his arm,  Yongguk's head appearing over his shoulder.

  
    "Jeongin, buddy, give me a second to take their orders and then you can continue your conversation."

  
    The boy named Jeongin sheepishly backed away as Yongguk moved forward.  
The boys at the table had been so lost in Jeongin's tirade that they had completely forgotten the whole reason why they were at the cafe in the first place. Panicked, they all ordered at random (apart from Hyunjin, who had wisely looked at the menu when they had arrived), and Yongguk gave them a tired smile as he left to relay the order to the kitchen. Jeongin, a bright shade of red after having spilled his heart to his idols, was quietly trying to slip away, but a call from Felix had him slowly turning on his heels to face the paranormal investigators.

Felix patted the empty chair next to him. “First of all, we call them spirits. Or remnants. Anything but ghosts, really. It feels unprofessional. Secondly, you brought up the hauntings here, right? Do you know anything about them?”

Jeongin took his seat slowly, as if he was afraid the chair would buckle under him if he was too hasty. His tight lips revealed a pair of dimples that most likely were more pleasant when Jeongin was smiling comfortably.

Hyunjin tapped Minho's shoulder, the other boy jumping and turning away from the window. After a confused glance directed towards Hyunjin, his face cleared and he reached for a notepad and his trusty pen (which he had grabbed at a bank sometime, and had kept on him ever since).

Jeongin cast shy glances at the older men, then took a deep breath. Minho clicked his pen.

“Yeah, I know about the ghosts- uh, spirits. I actually knew about them before you guys even started your channel. They're somewhat a fact of life around here.”

“So, other people believe in their existence?” Hyunjin sipped his water.

“Believe? No, the entire town _knows_ they exist. The only skeptics are those new to town. I mean, you guys probably believe too. Except for Hyunjin, I guess. You've always been the skeptic of the group.”

Hyunjin nodded in affirmation.

“What happened to make an entire town believe in the paranormal?”

Minho had murmured this to himself, and Jeongin knew this, but he answered the question anyways.

“Well, if you’ve done your research into this area, you would know it's fairly old.”

Felix thought back on the withered old lady they had passed on the sidewalk, the only sign of human life visible to the outside world, and nodded to himself.

“Well, most of the time it’s a peaceful place, but every thirteen years  something absolutely dreadful happens, and someone dies. Every time. We know it isn’t just a coincidence because it's happened nineteen times.”

Minho paused in his note writing. There was a blue stain on the side of his left hand, where in its haste it had brushed over wet ink. “Thirteen years is a little cliche, don't you think?”

Jeongin shrugged. “Tell that to the demon.”

Felix gave a very expressive and very nervous side-eye. “Demon? We only ever read about spirits, dead humans who have yet to pass on.”

“Well, it's either a demon or a curse. Either way, it’s been happening for centuries.” He leaned closer, furtively glancing at Yongguk, who was puttering about the café. His shoes dragged on the ground. “It's actually due to happen at any moment, since this is the thirteenth year. People are starting to distance themselves, staying inside to avoid external threats and each other. You guys should be careful. Although, given these circumstances, the chances that you will find something are much higher than usual, so you may, you know, get some good material. I know a lot of the places you've been weren't truly haunted- they didn’t show any true signs of haunting- and you like to taunt whatever you're looking for, but you need to be careful here. Something could actually happen.”

Hyunjin scoffed, while Minho and Felix threw each other worried glances.

“No worries, Jeongin, we'll be fine. I'm sure these accidents are just a coincidence.”

“Sure, a coincidence that's happened nineteen times.” Yongguk arrived with three plates of decent looking food and set them down. Instead of leaving to return to his lonely outpost at the entrance, he remained by the table. “That's a cute thought, but I'm afraid there really is something happening here. If you've come to help, I'd like to give you a piece of advice.”

Four sets of quizzical eyes trained themselves on Yongguk.

“Whatever you do, stay away from the settlement in the mountains. No one's lived there for years, so the structures are really unstable. Also-”

He cut himself off; whatever he had been about to say died in his throat.

“Uh, nevermind, that's not important. Jeongin, I'm headed out. Could you close up once they're done?”

Jeongin gave a salute and, with that, Yongguk grabbed a jean jacket from a hanger on the wall and left. Jeongin watched him leave with a sad expression.

Felix took a furtive bite of omelet, grimaced, and began picking out the onions. “Is he always that tired?”

Jeongin sighed. “He usually gets here at around four in the morning, to help Junhong get started on the baked goods. It doesn't help that today is the anniversary of the day.”

“The day?”

“I’m… I'm  not sure I should tell this story, since it's not mine to tell. Actually, I'm surprised Guk didn't mention this, since it kinda relates to our demon situation.” Jeongin checked his phone, swiped away a few notifications, then held it up so the other three could see the date. June nineteenth. “Guk's mom is the one you'll want to speak to, but we should wait a few days. The anniversary is always the hardest.”

 

¤▪¤▪¤▪¤▪¤▪¤▪¤

 

“The anniversary,” Hyunjin mused. His hands were intertwined under his chin, his elbows resting on his crossed legs. “I wonder what happened.”

"The curse,” Minho said plainly. He sat in a chair in the corner of their hotel room, shoulders stiff and eyes closed, pen millimeters from contact with the legal pad on the rickety table.

“Right. The curse.”

“I know you're skeptical, Hyunjin, but I'm getting a _feeling_ from this place. You know what I mean.” The pen skittered across the page in large sweeps.

“You may be a certified psychic, Minho, but that doesn't mean I have to believe everything you ‘ _feel_.’”

“You just say that because you don’t like not being able to experience and confirm its validity yourself.”

Felix entered the room as they bickered, various snacks in a grocery bag hanging by his side. After a brief pause in which he discerned the topic of their conversation, he sighed, interrupting their hollow argument. “Here we are, back to the age-old ‘psychics are fake’ debate.” Setting the bag on one of the beds, where it slumped like Yongguk's tired shoulders, he crossed the room to look at what Minho had written on his notepad.

There were three words, the color inconsistent as if the ink was afraid to manifest what Minho had been compelled to write. The script was large and blocky, quite unlike Minho's neat and even scrawl.

_SOURCE_

_SACRIFICE_

_DANGER_

The hair on Felix's neck rose as he stared at the last two words in dismay. Sacrifice wasn't a pleasant word in any context, and danger was worrisome, given that none of Minho's readings in the past- whether successful or not- had ever included such a dire warning. The closest they had ever gotten was “M&M'S OR DEATH”, which had resulted in a pack of the candy flying off the shelf of the gift shop and thwacking Felix in the back of his head. Just their luck, this had happened while they were changing the batteries in the cameras, so they didn’t even have evidence to justify Felix's over exaggerated head trauma. Minho had sheepishly commented that it was possible he had misinterpreted and the message had really been “M&M's OF death”.

“Well,” Felix said, returning to the present. “That isn't good.”

Hyunjin stole a glance at the paper, then sighed. “I'll believe it when I see it, but for now, I think we should record some audio for the show, then go to bed. There isn't enough information yet to discern or worry about the meanings of these words. We can investigate more tomorrow.”

“When do you suppose we'll be able to talk to Yongguk's mom?” Minho asked, ripping the ominous sheet off the pad, giving it a date and a location, carefully inserting it into a clear plastic sleeve, then snapping that into a three ring binder that contained his other readings.

“Jeongin says she’s at work in the city until Saturday, so three days. Until then, we can ask around and get further context from other locals.”

Felix moved back over to the bed to grab the snacks and a leather bound journal, then sat on the floor. The other two sat as well, forming a triangle. Felix pulled out a small recorder and hit the red button.

Reading from a mixture of Minho’s notes and a script he had written earlier that evening, and with occasional interjections from the older boys, he began their narrative.

“June nineteenth. Our plane landed in a small mountain town, where the locals claim to be haunted by not only spirits of the departed dead, but a malevolent, murderous dark energy as well…”

 

¤▪¤▪¤▪¤▪¤▪¤▪¤

 

**chaotic stupid group chat**

 

**nyeongin:**

_FELLAS_

_FELLAS GUESS WHO I JUST RAN INTO_

_THIS ISNT A DRILL_

_[1:20 pm]_

 

_FELLAS!!!_

_[6:26 pm]_

**uwujin:**

_who????_

_[7:48 pm]_

 

**seowongmin:**

_^^_

_[7:48 pm]_

 

**nyeongin:**

_thrice hunted is HERE IN TOWN_

_[8:30 pm]_

**seowongmin:**

_WHAT_

_Lies_

_dont get our hopes up_

_[8:31 pm]_

 

**nyeongin:**

_SEUNGMIN RHEY WERE LITERALLY AT THE CAFE THEYRE LOOKING INTO THE HAUNTINGS HERE_

_it looks like I may end up being one of their Witnesses_

_guk too_

_[8:34 pm]_

 

**uwujin:**

_o o f_

_I can't believe they're here omg_

_[8:35 pm]_

 

**seowongmin:**

_dude what r u waiting for… drop their hotel address coward!!!_

_[8:37 pm]_

 

**nyeongin:**

_absolutely Not I will Not be associated with a stalker_

_[8:37 pm]_

 

**seowongmin:**

_:(_

_[8:38 pm]_

 

**uwujin:**

_it's ok min… we don't need jeongins help_

_[8:42 pm]_

 

**seowongmin:**

_ur right let's go!!_

_[8:47 pm]_

 

Jeongin scoffed at his friend's antics. If Woojin and Seungmin really did scour the town to find whatever hotel Felix, Hyunjin, and Minho were staying in, they could say goodbye to day-old pastries snuck from the cafe.

They were most likely just joking, but Jeongin still found himself wondering how a first meeting between his friends and the paranormal investigators would go. After all, he and Seungmin were nearly Felix's age; they would have no trouble finding conversation topics. But then he remembered Seungmin's strange attachment to Hyunjin in particular, and decided that would probably override the age kinship.

Woojin would probably get along best with Minho, since they were both wise and generally carried themselves with an elegance that belied their youth.

While daydreaming up scenarios, as one does, a light bulb flicked on in his head. Jeongin grabbed his phone from his bed stand.

 

**chaotic stupid group chat**

 

**nyeongin:**

_ok guys here's an idea_

_dont go stalking 3hunted bc they'll most likely be out and about tomorrow anyways_

_u know they're good researchers, they wouldn't base an entire episode off of the testimony of two café workers_

_[8:53 pm]_

 

**uwujin:**

_so ur saying tomorrow is a loitering day_

_[9:02 pm]_

 

**nyeongin:**

_pretty much_

_[9:03 pm]_

**seowongmin:**

_smh…_

_I guess I can go a few hours without meeting them.._

_I'm gonna invite The Gals if that's ok?? idk if they watch 3hunted but they do rlly like paranormal investigation shows_

_[9:05]_

**nyeongin:**

_o yea they watch yyxy right??_

_sounds good I like to appear like im popular to famous people_

_[9:06]_

 

Knowing now that he could rest without worrying about a possible stalking situation, Jeongin turned off the lamp beside his bed and pulled his arms under the covers. His eyelashes dusted his cheeks as he fell asleep.


	2. Dark Skies, No Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which two forces collide and things become a bit more creepy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note; given that both skz and loona are involved, naturally there will be some confusion with the two Hyunjins. I’ve tried my best to differentiate, but if it’s confusing just let me know and i’ll see what I can do

“So,” said Woojin beside him. “You really think 3hunted is in town? Or is Jeongin pulling our leg?”

Seungmin winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “I hope he doesn't pull my leg. It cramped this morning as I was walking down the stairs… I’ve been a broken man ever since.”

Woojin huffed. “Min, you've gotta get more potassium. I'm gonna tell Haseul to get you a banana before she comes here.”

“I don't need a banana,” Seungmin cried frantically when Woojin pulled out his phone, but he had already hit send. 

“I do worry about you, you know. You can't afford to miss out on important nutrients, with how your health has been lately. Hey! Yeojin! Tell Seungmin to eat smarter! Or at least take vitamins!”

A petite girl with rosy cheeks and wispy baby hairs escaping her space buns left the other three she was walking with and flounced the remaining thirty feet to the two boys. Cupping her hands around Seungmin's ear, she yelled “Eat smarter! Or at least take vitamins!”

Seungmin recoiled instantly, and Yeojin pumped her fists in victory. 

“Yeojin, what did you do to Minnie?” 

Yeojin’s companions joined the already rowdy group. Seungmin darted to hide behind his two dark-haired classmates, who were holding hands. Two people meant double the protection.

“Hyunjin, Heejin, please, I've already lost a leg today, I can't afford to lose my hearing too!”

“Pardon my cousin,” said Hyunjin, as Heejin quipped, “either you had three legs yesterday, or I'm seeing double.” 

The third girl, who had pink hair and warm eyes, grimaced. She had a habit of doing this whenever she was even slightly shaken. “I hope nobody here has three legs, and never did.”

“You never know, Vivi,” said Haseul, as she and Jeongin arrived, the group now complete. She handed Seungmin not one, but three bananas. “Somebody here could've been born with an extra leg, and we'd never know. That's a banana for every meal today, Seungmin. I'd like to see you eat one now. Everyone stare at him so he's uncomfortable enough to never forget potassium again!”

Seungmin casually peeled the banana and, unbothered by the seven sets of eyes now trained on him, ate it. 

“Now that that's done,” Jeongin said, “I only told Min and Woojin what we’re doing today. It’s really special… truly a once-in-a-lifetime event...” He paused for effect. “We're hanging around outside!!” 

Hyunjin rolled her eyes. “We do that all the time, Nyeongin.” 

“Ok, but this time we have an objective.” His eyes sparkled. “Thrice hunted is here in town, and I want you guys to meet them.”

The girls all gave Jeongin a blank stare. A silence drew the air from his lungs.

Then Haseul snapped her fingers; suddenly Jeongin could breathe again. “Those are the guys who collaborated with yyxy in the Clydewell Asylum episode, right? The orange haired one got hit in the head with M&M’s, apparently. Although we can never be sure without proof.”

“Wait, that trio? I never paid attention to them, that one guy’s psychic readings always seemed a bit too accurate, if you know what I mean. Also the black haired dude is too clingy for my tastes.” Hyunjin said this as she looped her arm with Heejin’s, and raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“They aren’t fakes, if that’s what you’re implying,” Jeongin said defensively. “They’ve caught stuff on film. Also, Hyunjin, I can’t believe you’re insulting a person with the same name as you… isn’t there some universal rule where you have to be cordial at the very least?”

“I’m the superior Hyunjin,” she maintained. “Yyxy has been on hiatus so long, I’ve considered watching 3hunted, but I haven’t sunk that low yet.” She winked to let Jeongin know she was teasing. 

Heejin rubbed her forehead in a tired manner.

Jeongin huffed. “I could say the same about yyxy.”

Yeojin gasped dramatically and, with a faux wobble in her voice, cried, “you take that back!”

“Never,” said Jeongin. “Anyways, either we go around as a big group or as little ones. Unless, of course, you yyxy fans don’t want to meet real paranormal investigators.”

“I’ll go! Just to tell them I prefer yyxy,” Yeojin offered.

“We would cover more ground in small groups,” Woojin reasoned. “Haseul, Vivi and I all have cars, why don’t we separate according to that?”

In the end, Jeongin and Yeojin went with Woojin, Seungmin went with Vivi, and Heejin and Hyunjin squabbled over the front seat of Haseul’s car. 

Hunting paranormal hunters group chat 

Nyeongin:  
ok fellas here’s the plan  
everyone knows what 3H look like right??  
[12:16 pm]

Jin: yeo-type:  
look for the carrot right  
?? Felix???  
[12:16 pm]

Jin: hee-type:  
and the pretty one  
[12:16]

Jin: hyun-type:  
umm.. last i heard i wasn’t in 3H  
Heejin are u sure  
[12:17]

Jin: hee-type:  
No i mean the other hyunjin  
[12:17]

Seowongmin:  
Heejin???  
Hello???????  
Where’d she go  
[12:21]

Jin: hyun-type:  
I took care of her  
How dare she…  
[12:22]

Jin: hee-type:  
Hyunjin just tried to kill me omg  
[12:23]

“What exactly’s going on in the group chat? My phone has been buzzing incessantly,” Vivi said.

“Looks like… Hyunjin just tried to kill Heejin for saying 3H’s Hyunjin was prettier than her.” Seungmin rolled his eyes and put down his phone. The Main Street of their little town rolled past as they drove towards the only grocery store. There was no one outside, the storefronts locked and shuttered, an eerie, palpable silence hanging in the air. On a normal year, town citizens and visiting hikers would be perusing the small local shops that lined the street. But this year was different; the anniversary of the last demon attack had come and gone, and the attitude of the townspeople had moved from concern to a quivering fear. They all knew it was only a matter of time before someone else fell prey to a horrible, bloody end. 

Vivi pulled into the parking lot of the supermarket. Here, at least, there were signs of life. People walked by, huddled together as though it was the dead of winter, their carts stocked with water and canned foods. 

“It’s like the apocalypse,” Vivi marveled. “Do they really think locking themselves up in their houses is going to save them?”

“It’s plausible,” Seungmin said. “Most incidents happened when the victims weren’t home.”

“But they also happened when they were isolated,” she reminded him. “Don’t you think it would be better if we all lived in the school gym and didn’t leave for a year?”

“You have a point.” The doors of the supermarket slid open and they crossed the threshold. “But groupthink is weird. Once people develop a mindset, it stays with them until it’s proven false.”

Despite the bustling interior of the store, the air was still and nearly silent. Town residents muttered to each other under their breath while comparing what foods would last half a year.

Vivi and Seungmin wandered the store, grimacing as they passed the nearly empty aisle of canned goods. A voice wafted towards them, seemingly coming from the floral shop tucked into the corner.

“...so if this thing happens without fail every thirteen years, why don’t you just move away?”

Seungmin and Vivi glanced at each other, then began moving towards the floral section. That was definitely a question a visiting paranormal investigator would ask.

“Well, the other twelve years are safe and the climate is nice. If you would pardon me, I really must be getting home-“

“But are those twelve years worth a full year of anxiety and fear?”

“Yes, they are, I must be going now-“

Vivi and Seungmin rounded the corner to see 3H’s Hyunjin with an audio recorder in one hand, the other scratching his head in frustration as the woman he was interviewing speed walked away to the cashier. 

“Having a hard time finding people who’ll talk?” Seungmin asked, as casually as he could. It wasn’t every day you ran into your favorite ghost hunter at the local supermarket. 

Hyunjin sighed. His dark hair fell into his eyes, until he pushed it back again. “The people here are so weird. They act like talking about it will get them killed.”

“Tell me about it. They shouldn’t even worry about it- it’s the normal, level-headed folks who usually die.”

Hyunjin peered up at the two visitors. He looked bored and frustrated at the same time, if that was even possible. “You seem quite unafraid. Shouldn’t you be worried about running into this so-called demon?” 

“Well-“

An old man walking by stopped to share his thoughts. “Kids these days have no common sense. These children-“ he paused to point at Vivi and Seungmin- “were too young to remember the last tragedy, and they’re getting too bold, because of those darn ghost hunting shows.”

Hyunjin sneezed.

“Thank you for that, Mr. Beaufort,” said Seungmin.

“Don’t forget to read the poetry assignment and write that essay, Seungmin,” Beaufort responded. “I won’t tolerate any late work on the first day of school, since you had all summer to do it. This being the thirteenth year is no excuse to avoid homework.”

“Yes, Mr. Beaufort.” 

The man strode off towards the canned goods section, muttering about summer assignments and students slacking off. 

Hyunjin gazed after him disapprovingly. “Every day, something happens to remind me that no matter how stupid my job is, at least I’m done with high school.”

“But ghost hunting isn’t stupid.” 

“It is when they aren’t real.”

“They are, and you know it,” countered Seungmin. “You’ve run into them before.”

“You watch Thrice Hunted?”

Vivi went “oh!” and pulled out her phone, presumably to let their friends know they had run into a member of 3H. 

“I do. Vivi is a heathen and only watches yyxy.”

“Girls are cool!” Vivi defended. “Girls hunting ghosts are even cooler.”

“You’re right, and you should say it,” said Hyunjin, stuffing the recorder into his pocket. “Since you guys have no fear, would you like to tell me about your ghost problems?”

“I- sure!” said Seungmin. “My other friends wouldn’t mind an interview either.”

“Other friends?”

“I heard you guys were here from my friend Jeongin yesterday, he pulled us all together today to see if we could meet you guys.”

“I see,” said Hyunjin. “I’m not surprised fans of supernatural activity like to stick together, since you’re the same kind of weird.”

“You’re one to talk,” Vivi snorted. 

“I’m the only sane one in our trio,” Hyunjin declared. “Someone has to balance them out.”

They exited the nearly empty store. Outside, the clouds had covered the sun, and a chill ran through Seungmin’s body. Something had changed when the paranormal investigators arrived in town.

——

“So, we’ve tried the park, the geology museum, and the mall, with no luck. Where do you suggest we look next?” Woojin asked.

Jeongin hummed. So did his phone, but he ignored the notification. “Well, I would say they may be at the cafe, but that’s not a very good place to gather information, especially since so few people are outside these days.”

His phone buzzed again.

“The group chat is busy,” he commented.

The buzz became continuous, but this time came from Woojin’s phone. Woojin, who was a responsible adult who (almost) always answered when someone contacted him, picked it up. 

“Dude, you’ll never guess what just happened,” came Seungmin’s voice, crackly due to the ever-present poor reception that came with living in an isolated town. 

“Wait- before you tell me, let me guess… you went everywhere and didn’t find a trace of a ghost hunter.”

Seungmin cackled, the sound transferring painfully into Woojin’s ears. “Incorrect. Ladies and gentlemen, we snagged a ghost hunter!”

In the background, Woojin heard a faint voice protesting the use of the word “ghost”, but that was drowned out by Jeongin and Yeojin’s twin exclamations from the backseat. 

“Told you they were here!” Jeongin crowed.

Suddenly, the faint voice was not so faint, and now Woojin could tell it was 3H’s Hyunjin. “Hello to whoever is in charge of this phone, please tell Jeongin we will never trust him with our secrets again.” 

Jeongin frowned. He had unbuckled his seatbelt and was now hovering over Woojin’s shoulder, to get closer to the receiver. “You can’t see me, Hyunjin, but I’m pouting. I just told them you guys were in town and that you asked me some questions, nothing more.”

Hyunjin was quiet for a moment, but Woojin could almost feel the eye roll emanating from the phone. People who could do that were a force to be reckoned with.

“Well, I guess you’ve already caught us. I’m here right next to your cute friend Seungmin, and I already like him a lot more than you.”

Jeongin pouted again. 

There was a scuffling sound, and then Seungmin was back. “He stole the phone from me! Jeongin, don’t worry, he was smiling that whole time.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Jeongin muttered.

“Anyways, apparently Felix and Minho are at the rest home, so we’re headed there now. So are Haseul, Heejin, and Hyunjin. Uh, no, there’s a different Hyunjin,” said Seungmin. The last part was obviously directed towards the Hyunjin next to him, who had probably expressed confusion.

Woojin smiled. It seemed like the two were fast friends. “We’ll head over now. The rest home is kinda a weird place to go, isn’t it?”

Hyunjin’s voice came over the speaker. “Not really, we always contact the rest homes, especially in cases like these where there’s a lot of history. We figure as long as they don’t have memory problems, they’ll have better information. You know, since they’ve been involved longer.”

“That’s a good point,” Yeojin mused. 

———

“So, uh. Y’all are Thrice Hunted,” Hyunjin said. She and Heejin seemed to have forgotten their death match in the car.

“Yeah,” said Felix. He was sitting at a plastic table with three old ladies and Minho, playing some card game. 

“I prefer yyxy,” declared Yeojin.

“Must be hard, given that they’ve been on hiatus for a while,” said Minho, not unkindly. 

“Yeah, why they’ve been on hiatus for this long, I have no idea,” said Hyunjin, walking up with his arm over Seungmin’s shoulders with Vivi trailing behind. The pink haired girl skittered over to Haseul’s side. “They’ve actually been ignoring us for a while, it’s a bit annoying.”

“Well, I told them we were here, since they recorded something in this town once-“

Five gasps came from five girls, who all immediately crowded Minho. 

“They recorded something here? How did I not know this,” said Heejin.

“Probably because they never released it,” responded Minho, laying down his hand. Across the table, Felix glared at him. Never play cards with a psychic. “Although, we haven’t the faintest idea why they didn’t. It may be they simply just didn’t get enough material.”

“Here?” Seungmin snorted. “That’s unlikely.”

“Whatever the case,” Minho said, “That’s when they cut off all contact with us. They haven’t released anything since.”

“See, that’s what’s funny,” said Felix. He had leaned back in his chair, giving up on the game after Minho crushed him. “They actually read our message this time. One of them actually started typing a response, but stopped.”

Hyunjin- the one currently draped over Seungmin- made a sound of surprise. “That’s the most they’ve interacted with us in, like, a year!”

“Hold on, hold on,” said Seungmin. “Before we continue… who is yyxy?”

Yeojin gave him an extremely affronted look, while Haseul sighed. “See, Seungmin, this is what you get for not getting enough potassium. YYXY is the name of a different paranormal investigation show that used to be really good, but went on hiatus a long time ago. There are four members- Jiwoo, Sooyoung, Gowon, and Hyejoo, and they’re our age, which is one reason why we like them so much.”

“And they’re really cool,” said Heejin. “They’re more interested in the history of a place than actually finding the spirits, so they’re like… intellectual.”

“We do that too,” Felix muttered, but Yeojin spoke over him.

“They completely disappeared, with barely any warning, about a year ago. The last the public heard from them was a tweet saying some personal stuff came up, and they couldn’t film for a while.”

“And then they disappeared,” Seungmin mused. “Which is why it’s such a big deal they even began responding to you.”

Minho spoke up for the first time in a while. His eyes were focused on a painting of the mountains hanging on the wall. “Nobody really takes our line of work seriously, since there’s a lot of people out there creating material simply for entertainment and attention. There are a few true supernatural experts out there though, yyxy and us being a number of them. And when people do it for real, there’s always the chance something goes wrong.” He then shifted his full attention to Hyunjin. “That’s why I tell you to be careful with what you say, Jin. I know you’re a full skeptic- although, with everything that’s happened, I don’t understand how that’s still possible-“

“Willpower,” Hyunjin said. “Also, there’s an explanation for everything.”

“Shh, Jin, I’m lecturing you. Anyways, spirits are fickle things. One misplaced word, and they may end up flinging a knife instead of a pack of M&M’s.”

“A good point, but why do you bring this up?” Woojin crossed his arms, slightly uncomfortable with the heavy atmosphere within the room.

“Because, as I said, yyxy really knows what they’re doing, and they do get involved with the expelling of spirits. Something may have gone wrong while they were here, and they need time to recover.”

“So like… someone may have gotten hurt?” 

“Exactly. I’ve thought about this a lot, and even done some readings; we were very close to yyxy once, sharing research and such. If one group was unable to rid a location of a dangerous spirit, we would contact the other in hopes they could help instead. It’s been tough since they disappeared, and above that, I’m worried about them as people. Issues caused by supernatural beings often go much deeper than physical injury.”

Jeongin grimaced, thinking about Yongguk and his mother, who had both been affected by the last Event, thirteen years ago; both had never recovered. 

Minho breathed out heavily from his nose. “Anyways, we got some good information from the ladies and gentlemen here at the rest home, so we really have no reason to stay.” He pushed his chair out from the table and stood, causing the rest of the group to break from their reverie. 

“Oh- well- we could help you guys while you’re here, too,” Vivi offered timidly. “I mean, only if you want.”

“That would be useful,” said Felix, who stood as well. “Although, what would it entail?”

“I’ve heard the closer we get to the Event, the more odd things happen. Urban legend claims it’s the spirits of the previous victims trying to keep the living safe from the curse.”

“Interesting,” Minho replied. “Well, in that case, it would be very good to know when the danger escalates. Thank you for the offer.”

———

“I’ll admit, I got chills,” said Heejin, as they left the rest home. The boys from 3H had stayed for just a few more minutes, just to wrap things up with the elderly folks they had interviewed. “That Minho guy looked really haunted. No pun intended.”

Hyunjin frowned and ran her hand through her hair. “Honestly, all that stuff about respecting spirits, we already knew that. But I never connected that with yyxy’s silence.”

“Same. I thought they were just taking a break from the show, to go to school or something. But now that I know someone possibly got hurt… I’m very worried.”

“Yeah.” Heejin sighed and looked up at the sky. Despite it only being mid-afternoon, it was only a few shades lighter than her raven hair; rain did not seem to be the perpetrator, although there was an almost palpable crackle to the atmosphere. She moved Hyunjin quickly back to the car, an overwhelming sense of dread causing her to tremor in fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it begins... 
> 
> minho rlly seems to like those mountains, doesn’t he? I wonder what’s up..
> 
> ALso thank u guys for the support!! It rlly inspired me to get this chapter out faster. Let me know what you liked!!


	3. Spirits Before Breakfast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a filler chapter, but necessary for the buildup to chapter 4.........  
> also updates will be slower from now until June bc school ://// 
> 
> Also sorry in advance

**Gowon is typing…**

 

**Gowon is typing…**

 

The little dots in the corner of the chat disappeared, and Gowon went offline. Hyunjin was dangerously close to tearing his own hair out. Like,  _ this close. _

 

It had been a full day since he, Felix, and Minho had met the local hooligans at the rest home, and they had barely scrounged up any further information; most sources pointed to the mountains as the best place to search for the spirits themselves, although they were hesitant to go due to Yongguk’s warning. 

 

Currently, they were sitting in the (abandoned) park, compiling notes taken by each member during their individual investigations. 

 

“There’s so little  _ here, _ ” Felix complained. He looked like he, too, was seconds away from throwing a tantrum. “Nobody is willing to give away information! And those who do want to talk to us know nothing!”

 

“I think it’s exciting,” Minho responded. Unlike the other two, he looked like he was enjoying himself; his eyes glinted as he looked over Felix’s list of possible spirits, and then over to the map, where they had marked places of death. “We haven’t had to figure a case out in such a long time, I was starting to get bored of simply retelling the story. This time, we get to compile the data ourselves and then find a solution.”

 

“It would help if yyxy would actually  _ talk to us, _ ” Hyunjin fumed. “They’ve been on and off all day, but haven’t actually sent a message.”

 

“It’s more life than we’ve seen this past year,” Minho responded calmly. “We need time for this investigation anyways. The hotel rates are really cheap, too, so it’s not like we’re just burning money while we wait.”

 

Felix and Hyunjin both grumbled away his totally rational explanation.

 

Suddenly, Felix jumped up. “I’m going to go for a walk, to clear my head,” he announced.

 

“Cool,” said Minho. “But it’s getting close to dark, so be careful.”

 

“Yeah, Seungmin said it’s most dangerous here when you’re walking around alone, so stay where we can see you,” said Hyunjin. He had exchanged numbers with the younger boy and together they had spent half the night discussing urban legend and theories over text, which led to a very tired but smiley Hyunjin in the morning. 

 

“Got it,” Felix said flippantly. They were situated on one of the tallest hills in the park, so he could technically even leave the park without losing them.

 

Skittering down the gentle slope, Felix walked until he couldn’t make out their features, and then some. He wasn’t truly frustrated with the lack of information, that was almost to be expected; the bigger problem resided in how long Minho was willing to sit and wait for evidence to appear. While even that in itself was barely tolerable, Hyunjin’s frustration had pushed him into feeling jittery and uncomfortable. There was no doubt, Felix loved his friends, but sometimes the massive differences in personality left each member feeling isolated and outspoken. 

 

What had been visible of the sun had now disappeared behind the craggy mountain peaks, and whatever light had been left over was quelled by the stormy clouds above. The loss of light was accompanied by a loss of warmth; Felix shivered, squinted against the sudden darkness, and huddled into his hoodie. He had entered a grove of trees, the airy aspens dotted with dark and threatening pines. The gravel crunched loudly underneath his sneakers. 

 

Fearing he had lost sight his teammates, Felix made to turn around to look for them when he caught a flash of movement. His head snapped back to where he had seen it, but of course there was nothing there.

 

Standard procedure, when there was a spirit in the vicinity. 

 

He pretended to dismiss it, and continued looking for Hyunjin and Minho. They were visible, but only just; it would really be smarter just to head back. 

 

Despite this, Felix was curious. Who was within the trees?

 

There was more movement, a streak of black, off to his left. Felix turned towards it. 

 

“I know you’re there,” he called. “Please come out. I promise not to hurt you if you don’t hurt me.” 

 

There was a silhouette against an aspen, but no figure to ground it. It shifted, but did not answer. 

 

“Well,” said Felix. “I guess I’ll be going, then. If you want to talk, that’s why I came here in the first place. To the town, I mean. I wasn’t expecting to find you here. So you can approach me at any time. Just don’t stand over me when I’m sleeping, that’s creepy.” He slowly turned to walk away, took a couple steps, and stopped.

 

“I mean it,” he tried again. “I’m really leaving. For real this time.”

 

And the silhouette stayed against the tree. Taking that as a sign, Felix left the grove and jogged back to his friends. He was shaking; despite being a paranormal investigator, he was fairly afraid of the unknown, and it didn’t help when the spirit merely hovered ominously next to the tree.

 

“Guys,” he panted, “Let me take a look at the map.”

 

Minho handed it over, concern spreading over his and Hyunjin’s face at Felix’s unnaturally pale complexion. 

 

Felix trailed his fingers over the park until he arrived at the copse of trees he had just visited, but strangely, there was no red mark signifying a death. 

 

“Put a mark here,” he said. “In green.”

 

Hyunjin’s eyebrows crawled up his forehead. Green meant a confirmed spirit, but no death had occurred there. What had Felix met?

 

“Did you see who it was?” Minho scratched his temple with the marker. This was a strange development.

 

“No,” said Felix. “They wouldn’t let me see them.”

 

“Well, now we know Seungmin’s advice was sound,” Minho remarked. “Best stay together from now on.”

 

Hyunjin looked around them; it was dark enough now that if they wished to continue working, they would need the aid of flashlights. “I suggest we head home. Whatever Felix met in there, it could be dangerous. Like, a bear, or something. So-“

 

“Sorry, Hyunjin, that was no bear. There was nothing corporeal in those trees.”

 

Minho muttered, “Do bears even live here?”

 

“Whatever. Spirits aren’t real. Let’s get going.”

 

After gathering together their notes and the blanket they had been lounging on, all three of them quickly walked the few blocks back to the hotel, occasionally checking the shadows for anything suspicious. This was the nice thing about staying in a small town, Minho decided- everything was within walking distance. 

 

The charm the quaint little town had enacted on him was quickly overridden by curiosity and a little bit of fear. Evidently, they didn’t even need to search for the spirits, since the spirits were approaching them. He thought back to what Vivi had said the day before, about spirits attempting to shield possible victims of The Event.

 

Were they in danger?

 

———

 

**Hyunjin**

Felix met Something today 

In a little grove of trees in the park

_ [10:25 p.m] _

 

**Seungmin**

Really??? Omg

Don’t tell jeongin he’ll want to go searching for it

Did u get a face?? Or a name??

_ [10:29 p.m] _

**Hyunjin**

Nah

It was probably an owl or smth

No spirits here!!!

_ [10:30 p.m] _

**Seungmin**

Pardon me for being bold but ur wrong

Spirits do exist

It’s a Fact Of Life 

you’ll learn that v quickly here 

_ [10:32 p.m] _

**Hyunjin**

-_-

Well from what we’ve found nobody died there so what else could it be

_ [10:32 p.m] _

 

**Seungmin**

Spirits aren’t necessarily tied to their place of death, although many of them do tend to stay there

But they can wander and they do it a lot

I remember my math teacher was low key haunted once

She would write smth on the whiteboard and when she was done it would magically erase itself

And then when she went home she would find her laundry clean and folded and ready to be put away

She lives alone btw

_ [10:34 p.m] _

**Hyunjin**

Ok but that still has an explanation tho

Maybe she just has rlly good friends 

_ [10:35 p.m] _

**Seungmin**

She’s naturally rlly tidy tho

And those were just a couple examples the spirit followed her everywhere and helped her out

Also how do u explain the whiteboard thing

_ [10:36 p.m] _

 

Curled on the couch as the rest of his family watched some superhero movie, Seungmin smirked. There was no way Hyunjin could come up with a plausible reason for why the whiteboard erased itself.

 

_ [hyunjin sent you an image] _

 

He frowned as he opened it. Hyunjin had sent a screenshot of a brand of markers where the ink disappeared about a minute after being applied. Seungmin was momentarily troubled, but after thinking for a second, he snorted.

 

**Seungmin**

Ok but that’s after one (1) minute

Sometimes stuff would stay on the board for 10 minutes while she explained a concept

Other times it would disappear after like 3 seconds

_ [10:38 p.m] _

**Hyunjin**

Who knows maybe she just had bad markers

_ [10:38 p.m] _

 

Seungmin’s nose wrinkled. A lot of his talks with Hyunjin went this way. Mr. Beaufort, his language teacher, would comment that Seungmin was honing his “analysis skills” by discussing things with Hyunjin, but really, he just wished Hyunjin would make things easier for himself and just admit supernatural beings existed. How he didn’t believe in them already was astounding enough, considering the multiple times the evidence had slapped him in the face like a wet fish; and now, he was actively denying said evidence and refuting it with half-baked responses. 

 

**Hyunjin**

Oh yeah apparently we’re supposed to meet Yongguk’s mom tomorrow??

Any word on what she’s like

I’m high key nervous bc our interviews so far haven’t gone very well and she’s our last chance...

_ [10:41 p.m] _

**Seungmin**

Ive only talked to her a couple times but she’s rlly nice

Super strong lady 

I think you’ll get some good stuff from her tho

_ [10:43 p.m] _

**Hyunjin**

Well that’s good at least.. I’m a little less nervous

Thanks minnie!! I’m gonna sleep now so gn

_ [10:46 p.m] _

 

**Seungmin**

Good night 

..jinnie

_ [10:46 p.m] _

 

_ ——— _

 

“Well, you’re looking cheerful this morning,” Minho observed, swirling some generic cereal around in a styrofoam bowl with his spoon.

 

“Do I?” Said Hyunjin, who was adjusting his glasses in the mirror. “Good, that way I can charm answers out of Yongguk’s mom.”

 

“With your face? Unlikely,” Felix snorted as he passed by, hair wet from his shower.

 

Hyunjin rolled his eyes quite dramatically, but even Felix’s teasing couldn’t dampen his mood. If asked what had made him so happy, he would never deign to tell. In fact, he wasn’t even too sure himself.

 

… except maybe it was that Seungmin had called him jinnie.

 

It wasn’t even that big of a deal; most people often called Hyunjin by some sort of nickname. Sometimes he wondered if it was because they felt pressured to, due to his (sometimes overbearing) friendliness. He wasn’t even sure why it made him so happy in the first place, but for some reason, it just hit different when Seungmin called him jinnie.

 

He shook his head. It wasn’t a big deal. Everybody used nicknames.

 

“So, Yongguk gave his mother a heads up,” Minho said, still stirring his cereal. “She’s expecting us in about three hours, during her lunch break.”

 

“She’s still working? Even on the weekends, after working all week in the city?” Felix marveled. “How come?”

 

“Who knows,” said Minho. “Maybe she just likes having some extra cash.”

 

“Or, maybe it has something to do with whatever she’s gonna tell us,” Hyunjin said, putting on a hat. His hair was not cooperating today. 

 

“That too,” said Minho, finally starting to (slowly) eat his cereal. 

 

“Why you eat cereal when you actually hate it is beyond me,” said Felix.

 

“It’s because we’ve been to the cafe every day so far,” said Minho. “I feel like changing it up.”

 

“With something you can barely stomach?” Hyunjin scoffed. “Yo, Felix, if you’re ready, do you want to go get breakfast at the cafe?”

 

“I’ve been waiting for you to ask,” Felix responded. He then grabbed Hyunjin’s hands and they sashayed out of the hotel room, leaving a slouching Minho behind to suffer through his cereal.

 

The beautiful, sunny weather from their first day in town had all but vanished. Even this early in the morning, it was clear to see that the suffocatingly dark and dismal clouds would not burn away under the sun’s heat. There wasn’t even a hint of rain; the air was dry and stale, a far cry from the refreshing outdoorsy fragrance it had held before. 

 

“You know, I was confused how such a nice looking place could have such a dark history, but it appears to be showing the corruption now,” Felix commented. 

 

Hyunjin bobbed his head. If things kept getting worse, his cuddle demands would need to escalate. 

 

A bell jingled somewhere above the door of the cafe, signaling their arrival. Yongguk’s coworker- was it.. Daehyun?- welcomed the two boys and led them to a cute little table for two. Then he disappeared, and Felix and Hyunjin were left alone. As usual, they were the only patrons.

 

“The people here are cowards,” Hyunjin said. “Locking themselves in their houses, as if anybody knows when they’re gonna die.”

 

Felix didn’t respond right away, and when he did, it wasn’t to Hyunjin’s complaint. He was staring over Hyunjin’s shoulder, eyes locked on something in the corner of the room.

 

“Hyunjin,” he whispered, “It’s back.”

 

“It?” Hyunjin said dumbly, more than a little creeped out by Felix’s behavior.

 

“The spirit from last night,” Felix said. “They’re just standing over there in the corner. I can’t tell if they’re looking at me or not.”

 

Hyunjin twisted in his chair to look. “There’s nothing there.”

 

Felix wrung his hands nervously. “Well, now there isn’t. They disappeared as soon as you turned around.”

 

“Sure they did,” Hyunjin sighed, and turned back around to look at the menu.

 

The rest of the morning went without a hitch; they met up with Minho after finishing breakfast ( _ “I’m never eating cereal again, guys, that was the worst experience of my life”) _ , and spent a couple hours just visiting the spots on the map they had marked with red, to see if there was any correlation not visible on a sheet of paper covered in lines. 

 

Felix, recovered from the shock in the cafe, checked his phone a while later. “We should head over to the bank,” he said. “Yongguk’s mom goes on break in a couple minutes.”

 

After squabbling over which direction the bank was for a little while, they finally ended up going the right way and eventually were entering the single story brick building.

 

Inside the employees were wearing jackets and speaking in hushed voices, despite it being late June. The boys spotted Yongguk’s mother immediately, because she waved them over the moment they walked in.

 

“Hello, Mrs. Bang,” said Minho, bowing. The other two followed his lead. “I’m Minho, and this is Felix and Hyunjin. We host a supernatural show online.”

 

“Good afternoon, boys,” she said, pulling a box from under her desk. It had a little sticky note on it, with a short handwritten letter from Yongguk written in spiky handwriting. “It’s nice to meet you. Guk has told me about your show. He hadn’t even heard of it before you got here, but he thinks it’s a fun idea.”

 

“Thank you, ma’am,” said Hyunjin. He had pulled a chair over to join the other two, and the three of them sat down. Minho grabbed his notepad and pen.

 

“So, I’m guessing you’ve wrangled all you could out of my fellow townsfolk,” she continued. “And didn’t get very much.”

 

“No, ma’am.”

 

She sighed. “That’s to be expected. They’re funny like that. Have you heard any stories about what happened to past victims of the Sixth Moon Curse?”

 

“The sixth moon curse?”

 

“That’s the official name of our local curse. Since it’s always happened in the month of June or later, we call it the sixth moon curse.”

 

“Oh,” said Felix, as Minho scribbled out the name. “We’ve just always called it ‘the event’.”

 

“It’s a bit of an older name, back when curses were a bit more… mainstream,” she said. “These days, people are too afraid invoking the name gives them an extra entry in the doomsday lottery.”

 

“I love that,” said Hyunjin. He didn’t really love it. “Anyways, we haven’t been able to find any recent stories. I mean, it’s not for a lack of trying, but all we’ve been able to dig up was maybe the first few, and they were worded to sound like... mining accidents, or something.”

 

“I don’t blame you for not knowing,” she responded. “Again, the townspeople are a tad strange. They like to ignore what’s happened, feign innocence for the demon. As if that’s going to help.” She muttered the last part under her breath, almost as if she didn’t mean for the boys to hear it. 

 

Minho squirmed a little in his chair at the sudden shift of atmosphere.

 

Mrs. Bang reached to a corkboard sitting at her desk, out of view of her guests. Pulling out a thumbtack, she placed an old photo on the smooth surface and turned it towards them. 

 

All three leaned in closer to inspect the photo. Within it was a boy who was clearly Yongguk, though he was obviously much younger. He wore a tired but enthusiastic smile while on a rock on a sandy outcropping, obviously at the summit of a mountain. The sun beat down through the pines and created spotty shade in the foreground, but the shade disappeared further out.

 

Standing closer to the edge of the cliff was another person, someone new. He appeared to be in his early twenties, and in good health. His pale blonde hair was almost the same color as the sand underneath his hiking shoes, and his arms, bared by a tank top, were stretched out to absorb the sunlight. He wore a blinding, closed-eye smile, but his face was turned away from the camera, facing the sun. 

 

“This photo was taken a little over thirteen years ago,” said Mrs. Bang, smiling sadly at the photo. “And that boy right there is Chan, my eldest. He was a victim of the Sixth Moon Curse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignoring the elephant in the room,,
> 
> Writing abt minho hating cereal made me rlly want oatmeal lmao 
> 
> also formatting is such a PAIN catch me cutting out the texting just bc it takes so much time


	4. Losing 3RACHA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternative title: “dance line and mrs bang cry over spilled tea”

Felix, Minho, and Hyunjin sat in stunned silence. They couldn’t exactly say they hadn’t seen this coming; even those who had pointed them in the direction of Mrs. Bang had been quite timid about it, eyes full of pity and unspilled secrets. But to hear it from the mother of the victim himself was almost devastating. 

 

“Oh,” said Hyunjin, in a tiny voice. In the picture, Chan was lively, glowing, draped in sunlight. But looking at the image was surreal and sickening, now that they knew the boy no longer existed in the realm of the living.

 

“Yes,” she sighed. “He had left to go to university just two years beforehand, to become a music producer. He wanted to compose for all the people he idolized. He was doing very well, I’d heard- even managed to sell a couple tracks to some rising artists. While he was there, he got involved with some group- I think it was some sort of a mix of slam poetry and music competitions? I’m not entirely sure. Anyways, that’s how he met his two closest friends- a guy a year below him, Changbin, and another kid, Jisung. Together they started writing tracks and actually releasing them themselves. I hear they got a fairly large following.”

 

“That’s pretty cool,” said Felix. “Kinda like us. Except they were writing music, instead of searching for the paranormal.”

 

“Yes, I suppose,” she said. “Looking at you three actually reminds me a little of them.”

 

Minho grimaced, but she just laughed softly and folded her hands. “Don’t worry, that’s a good thing. So, they did that for about two years. When Jisung graduated from high school, Chan decided to celebrate by bringing the both of them here, as somewhat of a retreat from urban life. You can’t see them here- in this photo- because they had gone off in some other direction to find some interesting plants to press and bring home.”

 

Minho gingerly picked up the photo. “I can feel them,” he said, ever one to make the situation weird. “One has a stoic but kind aura, the other sensitive and selfless.”

 

Mrs. Bang, who must have been warned he would do things like this, nodded. “The first one you sensed is Changbin, and the second is Jisung. That much I can tell you. The fact that you can feel their auras from the photo is interesting. Actually, if it isn’t too much to ask…” she hesitated briefly, then forged on. “Could you perhaps search for Chan’s aura? Please?”

 

Minho obliged, his eyes barely fluttered shut before they snapped open again. “He’s here, definitely. His was the first aura I felt, actually, but it’s so wide and warm that I thought it was just the remnants of the weather that day. Mrs. Bang…” he trailed off, to find his words. “I feel like… Chan was a very good person. He loved everything, wished peace and good fortune on everyone he met, but cared for his friends and his family most of all.”

 

Her brow furrowed, and she placed her hands over her face for a time in an attempt to gather herself. When she pulled them away and placed them, palms up, on the desk, her eyes were pale and glossy from unshed tears. 

 

“Thank you,” she muttered. “Knowing he’s still here, that he left something… that helps a little.”

 

Hyunjin subtly turned away himself. It was obvious she had been repressing this sorrow and fear for thirteen years, with nowhere for it to go but to her other, living son- who no doubt suffered from the same pain. No wonder the two were so hollow and fatigued. He couldn’t even imagine the guilt, the feigned ignorance of the townspeople whom they had known their entire lives.

 

“I must continue the story, but be warned, I don’t know the whole of what happened,” she said, her voice a little shaky but her resolve like steel. “Only the three of them were present when the Sixth Moon Curse took place. They arrived here on the 15th of June, in Chan’s clunky little car he had bought specifically for the drive to and from school…”

 

—

 

**_June 15th, 13 years ago_ **

 

_ “Chan, these mountains are monstrous! Are you sure they aren’t just gonna topple over on us?” _

 

_ Chan, hand resting lazily on the wheel, took a glance at his passengers in the backseat. Directly behind him sat Han Jisung, an expressive boy- fresh out of high school- with streaky blonde hair and soft cheeks. He was gazing out the window, head following various landmarks until they were out of view, then snapping back to something new.  _

 

_ “Careful, Sung, don’t give yourself whiplash,” came a mildly concerned voice from the other side of the car.  _

 

_ Seo Changbin was curled in the seat with one earbud in, fingers drumming his thigh to the beat. In his lap was a well-loved pillow, one he had dragged from his home in a distant town to the college dorms. His feet had been tucked underneath him for hours- how he hadn’t lost circulation yet was beyond Chan. _

 

_ “This is about as tall as they get,” Chan responded to Jisung. “But the ones in my hometown are really craggy, which gives them extra points in the intimidation department.” _

 

_ Jisung hummed something about taking pictures, then jumped forward so he was directly behind Chan.  _

 

_ “There’s a lookout spot! Could we stop here for a moment? Please?” _

 

_ Chan, never one to say no to Jisung when he was so open and curious, pulled over and parked the car in a tiny parking lot. Jisung was the first out, jogging to read some plaque on the guardrail separating them from a one-way trip down into the forest some seven hundred feet below. _

 

_ Changbin took his time leaving the car; his limbs creaked like an old man’s as he stumbled out onto the pavement (a hand on the open door to keep his balance), then stomped the feeling back into his legs. He, too, moved to the plaque, although at a much slower pace than Jisung. The two walked their way along the precipice, Jisung keeping a steady grip on the guardrail and on Changbin’s shoulder as he periodically stopped to lean over the edge and scan the scenery beneath him. _

 

_ Chan simply stayed where he was, leaning against the car, hands stuffed in the pockets of his shorts. He tilted his face towards the sun; sure, it existed in the city, but the clear atmosphere here in the mountains allowed it to shed its full glory. The few clouds drifted across the sky with no particular direction. He had missed this; the crisp air, the sense of adventure that came naturally from being in the wild. Sometimes living in the city got so stuffy, and he could only find green in a stoplight or in the little hanging gardens outside someone’s bedroom window. After a few long seconds of lounging in the serenity, he looked back down and chuckled a bit to himself as he watched Changbin pluck a few of the small, yellow flowers sprouting from the ground. He stuck a couple in Jisung’s hair, then a few in the top pocket of his overalls, then waved Chan over. _

 

_ “What are these called?” He asked, handing Chan the final blooms.  _

 

_ “These would be black eyed susans,” said Chan. “They grow all over here.” _

 

_ “They’re like mini sunflowers,” said Jisung, walking up to them with a small bouquet. “How close are we to your house? Because I want to give these to your mom as thanks, but I don’t want them to be all wilty.” _

 

_ “Town is actually only like ten minutes away,” said Chan. “Just around the bend and down into the valley.” _

 

_ “Oh,” Jisung replied. “Well, we’d better get going, then.” _

 

_ They all piled back into the car; this time, Changbin sat like a normal person. _

 

_ “So,” he said, pillow back on his lap. “You’ve always been pretty mysterious about your home life. Since you dragged us along, I think we deserve to know a bit more.” _

 

_ “Like what?” _

 

_ “I don’t know, like, how things were like at school? How you got into producing music? If there’s any cool traditions or festivals? Anyone you want us to look out for?” _

 

**“** _ Oh, that last part’s easy,” Chan said with a wave of his hand. “Aside from my mom, you guys should like my step-brother.” _

 

_ “I didn’t know you had a step-brother,” said Jisung with interest. _

 

_ “Yeah, his name’s Yongguk. He, his twin brother, and his dad entered our lives for a couple years. Eventually his dad got a promotion that required him to live in the city and he took his twin with him. He would’ve taken Guk as well, but Guk preferred it here.” _

 

_ “Cute.” _

 

_ “As for town traditions, there is something I should warn you about.” Chan’s expression clouded. “It’s not really a tradition, but there is a strange anomaly that happens every thirteen years. It’s never affected visitors before, so you should be fine, but…” _

 

_ “What happens? Does the water give you hallucinations? Do the townspeople all have blonde hair?” _

 

_ Chan frowned. “Nothing like that, Jisung. It’s actually quite bad.” _

 

_ He hesitantly continued on to tell them about the curse, his two friends staying silent through his explanation. He didn’t dare look at them through the rear view mirror, fearing they would declare him delusional. When he finished, Jisung puffed out his cheeks and exhaled loudly, while Changbin put his hands on the back of his head and turned his wide-eyed gaze out the window.  _

 

_ “That’s scary,” he said. Nothing further. _

 

_ “You… believe me?” _

 

_ “Yes,” said Changbin, Jisung nodding somberly at his side. “We know you wouldn’t joke about something like this, Chan. And if this curse really is as dangerous as it sounds, if it really does only affect town residents…” He looked Chan straight in the eyes via the mirror. His expression was deeply troubled. “Doesn’t that mean it could happen to you?” _

 

_ Chan turned his eyes back to the road. “Maybe, but it’s unlikely. There’s no clear pattern in the choice of victims, which gives me the same probability of being chosen as anyone else.” _

 

_ “Does it ever get more than one person?” Jisung had folded his hands together, but his knuckles were white from the pressure he placed on them. _

 

_ “It depends on how it happens. Once it took the form of a mining ‘accident’, where the canary in the cage died, if you know what I mean. I think twelve people passed away. That was a long time ago, though, and recently it’s only been one person, like an involuntary sacrifice.” _

 

_ “You sound so casual about wanton slaughter,” Changbin muttered. _

 

_ “I grew up with it,” Chan replied. _

 

_ — _

 

“If your husband lives in the city, and you work there on weekdays, why don’t you just stay there over the weekend too?” Hyunjin asked.

 

“I considered moving there permanently,” she said, “but Guk decided to stay here, and I figured I would visit him so often I may as well have a home here too.”

 

“And you’re even visiting him now, even though it’s so risky,” Hyunjin said.

 

She nodded. A woman in slacks and a button down shirt- presumably her manager- walked by with a suspicious glance at the three strangers.

 

“The boys were so friendly and helpful,” Mrs. Bang recalled, back to telling the story. “The first thing Jisung did when they arrived was give me the flowers and fist bump Gukie. Changbin arranged our shoe pile as we greeted each other. The rest of the evening was quite pleasant; those three showed Gukie their musical process and even helped him write and mix part of a song, Changbin and Chan made dinner while Jisung sat and doodled. Those kinds of things. It was clear they all liked each other a lot, and knew how to work well together.

 

“The next day was where I began to be concerned. I woke up in the morning to find the vase in which I had put Jisung’s flowers shattered on the dining room floor. I would blame it on our cat of the time, except she had been locked outside sometime during the night.

 

“As I moved to clean up the shards, Chan entered the dining room and stepped on one that had somehow made its way to the threshold. It went clear through his sock and into his heel. The wound wasn’t too serious- he could still move around fairly normally- but we did have to disinfect the cut and apply a hefty amount of gauze.”

 

Hyunjin shuddered involuntarily; he had never liked the image of blood.

 

“These strange and unlucky things continued to happen. My coworker woke up one night at the lake, standing on the edge of the dock. The relic disappeared from the cathedral. Dogs would escape their kennels and run feral through the streets. And all the while, Chan worked so hard to make this a good experience for his friends.”

 

—

 

**_June 17th_ **

 

_ A bridge had collapsed; shadowy figures had been seen in the woods; despite it being a nearly full moon, the night sky had been pitch black. As Chan scrolled through the town news, his regret grew. Perhaps it would’ve been safer to take Changbin and Jisung to, like, the beach, instead of a town festering in evil. Even coming just a few weeks earlier would have been safe. _

 

_ But it’s not like he knew much about the curse, anyways; it was quite a taboo subject (to the point that, during off years, the townspeople merely pretended it didn’t exist), and he had been 8 when the previous one happened. He hadn’t even been in town- his mother had made the point of traveling as much as possible, and they had somehow managed to miss it while on a weekend trip to his stepfather’s apartment. _

 

_ “What’s up?” Asked Changbin, ever perceptive. He and Jisung were poring over a map of trails, trying to choose one for their hike tomorrow. The map was well loved, because Chan’s family made notes about the hikes they went on in the margins.  _

 

_ “It’s nothing serious,” Chan said. He hadn’t told them of all the strange goings-on; both of them were easily shaken (Jisung had gotten quite dizzy when he walked in on Chan and his mom bandaging his foot), and he figured they would be happier in their ignorance. _

 

_ “Doesn’t look like it,” Jisung said. “You’re all hunched over.” _

 

_ Chan straightened up and gave them a small smile. “Everything’s fine. Mom just told me it’s supposed to be really hot tomorrow, so the hike may be miserable.” _

 

_ “That’s fine,” said Jisung, turning back to the map. He could tell Chan was worried about much more than bad weather, but he figured if it got serious enough, Chan would tell them. “It’ll be even better for us. Like… steam yoga or whatever it’s called.” _

 

_ “Hot yoga?” Changbin offered. _

 

_ “That’s the one,” Jisung said, pointing at Changbin. “Hey, Chan, I think we’ve decided on this one. What do you think?” _

 

_ Chan scooted over to the other two, where Jisung had his finger on a trailhead so marked up the name was barely visible. _

 

_ “The old town route,” he observed. “A good choice. That one’s one of my favorites.” _

 

_ “It says here…” Changbin leaned closer to decipher the comments written in the area. “There’s a ghost town village thing along the way? And when you get to the summit you can see the whole world.” _

 

_ “Yeah,” Chan said. “This used to be a moderately popular mountain range for mining and there’s actually several settlements all over the area, but our town is the only one that actually survived after the resources ran out. The Circle is one of the larger settlements, and the trail is a well kept secret so it’s remained largely undisturbed.” _

 

_ Jisung’s lips stretched wide in his signature heart-shaped smile. “That sounds so cool!” _

 

_ “It’s a long hike,” Chan warned, “so we’d have to leave fairly early in the morning to be able to make it back at a reasonable time.” _

 

_ “I wouldn’t mind hiking in the dark,” Changbin said. _

 

_ Chan thought of the current state of events and felt his guts twist at the thought of being out during twilight or even later. “Maybe some other time, but I guarantee you will… be really tired, and the trail is really rocky at some points, so it would be a little too dangerous for my liking.” _

 

_ “Fair point.” _

 

_ — _

 

“The weather the next day was, contrary to Chan’s excuse, wonderful,” Mrs. Bang sighed. “I brought Gukie and a couple of his friends along, while 3RACHA- that was their little ensemble’s name, for when they released music- was maybe half a mile ahead. 

 

“As we arrived at The Circle, I felt a presence emanating from the little Catholic church that sits along their main street, which became part of the trail. I kept my eyes wide and trained on the odd shadows and corners where something could be lurking, but I never saw a thing. The presence grew heavier and heavier as we approached the church, and I could tell Guk and his friends felt it too, although I’m not sure they even consciously acknowledged it was there. Chan and his friends stood along the side, deep in discussion and gesturing at a small window that must’ve been the attic.

 

“I remember Jisung saying something about seeing something pass by the window, and Changbin arguing that there were white curtains that were still moving in front of the window. As we drew closer they ceased to talk and turned towards me with questioning eyes. Jisung asked me if it was possible someone was still living in The Circle, to which I, of course, said no. We moved on as a solid unit, me and nine boys, and began to climb the mountain.

 

“The rest of the hike went well, of course, and when we passed through The Circle on our way back, the presence was gone. Everyone passed out when we got home- it had been a long and strenuous hike, and Jisung and Changbin weren’t acclimated to the altitude, so it had taken a heavier tole on them than the others. They actually fell asleep where they sat on the couch of the living room, and Chan made sure they were comfortable before he went to bed himself,” she recalled fondly.

 

“They had no special plans the next day. Chan said they were just going to go out and explore.” She looked at the photo of the former, eyes tracing the swoop of his hair, the content smile gracing his face, before closing her eyes. Her fond expression had wiped itself from her face. “I remember he was wearing his favorite hoodie, the gray one with the stripes on the sleeves. His shoes were dusty, because it hadn’t rained in a month and the earth was parched. He said… he said “love you m-mom,” and waved at Guk, and then he and his f-friends left.”

 

Hyunjin, Minho, and Felix knew what was coming, but they were loathe to face it. Minho moved his hand on top of Mrs. Bang’s, and she gripped it tightly, as if it was the only thing anchoring her to the here and now.

 

“The search party looked for t-two days,” she said, shaking. The unshed tears from earlier threatened to spill over. “All they f-found was the bandage from Chan’s f-foot, and a small pile of b-black eyed susans. Changb-bin’s phone was several miles away, in The Circle. They never found anything of J-jisung’s.”

 

“All three of them were lost,” Hyunjin muttered. Minho moved his free hand to wipe the tears from Mrs. Bang’s face.

 

“Chan’s is the only confirmed death, due to the manner of the p-precedent cases. He was the only town citizen present. And I would like to believe Jisung and Changbin are alive, but it’s been so long it just isn’t likely.”

 

Felix nodded somberly, eyes cast downwards.

 

“After his death, everything went back to our relative normal. The townspeople—“ she paused, then continued stiffly, “the townspeople began to pretend like Chan had never even existed. His swimming medals were removed from the school hall of fame, people threw away the songs he had written for him, and the whole town just collectively… forgot.” The bank manager walked by again, except this time she was the one to receive the dirty look. 

 

“So, that’s our story,” Mrs. Bang said. She patted Minho’s hand and leaned back in her chair. Her posture had caved in on itself, but her expression was tough and unyielding. “Whoever is unfortunate enough to be the victim this year, I swear not to forget them. I don’t want anyone else to suffer like Yongguk and I did.” She stared hard at the three boys who sat across from her, bleary-eyed and chilled. “Do you promise to tell our story well? Will you help?”

 

“I wouldn’t dream of anything else,” Minho replied, shoulders set in a straight line. “And, Mrs. Bang, you don’t have to carry your burden alone. We know the story now; we know the dangers of what we’re getting into. Ma’am,” he said, leaning in, “Please have faith in us. We will fix this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> learned chan was a swimmer in finding skz so i had to include that
> 
> ALSO CAN WE TALK ABT MIROH FOR A HOT SECOND??? WRKPJFPJRSLF I LOST IT


	5. Arguments, Advice, and Apparitions

Minho, Hyunjin, and Felix had locked themselves in their hotel room.

 

No, they weren’t sick, they weren’t sulking; they weren’t cowards, like the rest of the town; they had just… locked themselves in their room.

 

That’s what Hyunjin had told Seungmin, anyways, when Seungmin had mentioned that Jeongin hadn’t seen them in the cafe for a while.

 

Hyunjin explained through text (he couldn’t call, for whatever reason) that they had collected sufficient data from the town residents, and were in the process of “self-led discovery”- whatever that meant. To Seungmin and the rest of his friends, it meant life had suddenly returned to the infuriating, heavily charged silence that held the rest of the town captive.

 

“Something happening to your phone?” Came a honey smooth voice from across the room. Woojin was lounging on one of the old, mismatched couches in Seungmin’s living room, a plate of dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets balancing on his chest and a music video running its course on his own phone. 

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Woojin ate a stegosaurus shaped nugget and tossed a t-rex to Jeongin, who was struggling through his summer homework. “Well, you’ve been staring at your phone for like three minutes. The screen isn’t even on.”

 

“Oh. I’m just thinking.”

 

“About what? Actually, I don’t care.” Jeongin rested his head on his hands and gave Seungmin a dramatic pout. “You’re taking physics this year too, right? Could you help me figure out the equations that involve mass and velocity?”

 

Seungmin sighed and got up from where he had been sitting cross legged on the floor. He barely had any motivation to do their summer homework- what was the point when, first, he knew they would have the first week of school to do it, and second, he may die at any time? But Jeongin insisted on ignoring their pending doom to instead do physics homework. At the very least he could just be like everyone else and not do it until the day before school started.

 

As he sat to grumble and whine his way through the small pile of physics worksheets (he’d might as well do his own work as well, if he was going to waste time helping Jeongin with his), his phone buzzed, and he immediately dropped his pencil in favor of reading the message.

 

**Hyunjin**

SEUNGMIN 

MINHO JUST SAW THE SPIRIT THATS BEEN FOLLOWING FELIX

_ [11:17 a.m] _

  
  


**Seungmin**

WHAT NO WAY 

THATS TWO EYEWITNESSES

What do u have to say for yourself.. since spirits rlly do exist

_ [11:17 a.m] _

 

**Hyunjin**

Oh don’t worry my resolve isn’t that flimsy

I’ll believe it when i see it

_ [11:18 a.m] _

**Seungmin**

Stupid

Anyways whats the story?

_ [11:19 a.m] _

 

Hyunjin didn’t respond right away, so Seungmin called Woojin and Jeongin together to tell them about the situation at hand. Seeing spirits wasn’t really a big deal to them, but everyone knew Minho was naturally much more perceptive than most other people. The probability he had seen something different- something more- was very high.

 

**Seungmin**

??

_ [11:36 p.m] _

 

**Hyunjin**

Srry minho was rlly going through it so we tossed him in the bath

_ [11:42 a.m] _

 

**Seungmin**

i

What?

_ [11:43 a.m] _

 

**Hyunjin**

Minho doesn’t recover very well when something shocks him badly

In the moment he’ll be useful and in control 

But afterwards he gets all hot and shaky and stays that way until we do something

And lix and i learned that just throwing him in the tub and turning on the cold water helps a ton

_ [11:46 a.m] _

 

**Seungmin**

I have so many questions

But first is he ok?????

_ [11:47 a.m] _

  
  


**Hyunjin**

Yeah he’s just writing down what he saw before he forgets details so ask away

_ [11:49 a.m] _

 

**Seungmin**

Ok 1. If minho gets shocked so easily is it rlly a good idea for him to be in the paranormal hunting business

2\. You’re telling me you texted me BEFORE helping your ailing friend?

and 3. WHAT DID HE SEE

_ [11:51 a.m] _

 

**Hyunjin**

1.the thing is minho rlly doesn’t ever get shocked that’s why its a big deal when he does

2.idk why rlly? But minho seemed to be doing fine at the moment and i figured u would want to know

  1. It’s kinda hard to explain,, so basically (according to minho anyways), for anyone how much they see of a spirit is up to the spirit themselves- so when Felix only saw a shadowy figure, that’s because the spirit only wanted to be seen as a shadowy figure, right?



_ [11:55 a.m] _

  
  


**Seungmin**

Right

_ [11:56 a.m] _

 

**Hyunjin**

Minho’s spiritual vision is also fairly limited in these cases, and its different every time

So basically what he saw today was the shadow lix sees + its aura

And he freaked out bc he recognized the aura

It’s someone he’s met

_ [12:01 p.m] _

 

**Seungmin**

I don’t like that at all

_ [12:02 p.m] _

 

**Hyunjin**

Obviously, neither did he

_ [12:03] _

 

Behind Seungmin, Woojin had his hand over his mouth. Both he and Jeongin had been monitoring the conversation almost as diligently as Seungmin himself, and both had gasped as they read Hyunjin’s third point. 

 

“Someone he knows…” Jeongin said. “Do you think we know them too?”

 

Seungmin asked Hyunjin.

 

“According to Hyunjin… Minho says he’s felt a lot of auras before but he couldn’t name the person, and there’s no way he could share the feeling of their aura with us. So it may be someone we know- knew, or it may be someone only he knew, or it may even be a spirit that followed them from some other job. He needs more exposure to their aura to get a better idea of who it could be.”

 

“Still,” Woojin said, “I can see why that would freak him out. Just knowing it’s someone  _ he _ knew is scary, for obvious reasons.”

 

“Yeah,” said Seungmin. In the chat, Hyunjin was asking if he could see him. Seungmin accepted. “Uh, guys, I gotta go do something really quick. If I’m not back soon, send Yeojin, but only as a last resort.”

 

The other two agreed. Only after Seungmin left did Jeongin think to ask him how long “soon” was supposed to be.

 

——

 

Hyunjin stood on a street corner, nearly on the threshold of a tiny, mouldering thrift shop. From where Seungmin was as he walked towards him, he could see the dark haired boy crane his neck up towards the sky, eyes as dark as the storm clouds he was inspecting. Hyunjin wore black jeans and a dark gray sweatshirt with their show’s logo on it, which did nothing to lift his dreary countenance. 

 

“Hey,” said Seungmin, casually (for real this time; nothing like the feigned calmness of their first meeting in the supermarket nearly four days ago. Had it really only happened so recently?). Hyunjin looked down, his dark expression clearing only slightly as he dipped his head at Seungmin. 

 

“Let’s go this way,” he said, touching Seungmin’s arm to guide him down some side road. 

 

“Any particular reason you needed to see me?” Seungmin fell in step with Hyunjin, taking quick strides to match Hyunjin’s long ones.

 

“We had somewhat of a disagreement,” Hyunjin said. His head was down, so  hair fell in his eyes. He pushed it back. 

 

“You and the other two?”

 

“Yeah.” He kicked at a stray pebble and sent it skittering into the road. “I thought we should go try to find evidence or something in the mountains, like on the Old Town trail. That maybe we would have more opportunities to see Felix’s Shadow, or meet someone new. They thought it was a bad idea.”

 

“How come?” 

 

“Well, firstly Yongguk told us to stay out of the mountains and especially away from The Circle- you know, the little ghost town along the trail. And now that we’ve heard Mrs. Bang’s story, they’re convinced there’s something there that we want to avoid at all costs.”

 

“Isn’t it your job to find and exorcise things, though?”

 

“We aren’t totally prepared to exorcise malovent spirits right now. It’s dangerous enough that we’re digging into such a taboo subject, let alone actually try to dispel something this early and without the correct equipment. But my idea wasn’t to exorcise something, which is where they misunderstood me.” He turned another corner and sped up. Seungmin, whose legs were a good bit shorter than Hyunjin’s, was at the uncomfortable pace between walking and jogging. They simply moved for half a block, before Hyunjin noticed Seungmin’s odd gait and slowed down so they were at an even pace again. 

 

“I just wanted to search for evidence. Maybe a patch of a certain breed of flower, or even just to do the loop to experience Chan’s favorite hike. But they accused me of moving too quickly because of my non belief.”

 

“Like, they think you’re being rash because you don’t believe the paranormal exists?” 

 

“Essentially. So, anyways, they said that stuff, and Minho was very blunt in what he thought about the situation, and Felix got sniffley and basically I left before the situation could escalate any further.” They had reached the elementary school’s playground. Seungmin went and sat in a tiny swing, so Hyunjin followed.

 

“I’ve only known you for a few days,” Seungmin began, “and you’re loads better with people than me, but can I tell you what I would do?”

 

“Please,” said Hyunjin, kicking at the wood chips under his feet.

 

“It really sounds like it was just one huge miscommunication, and you felt better- safer- when you removed yourself from the situation, instead of staying to explain it and risk them hurting you more. Am I right?”

 

“Maybe,” said Hyunjin. “I didn’t really know  _ why _ I left, I just felt like I had to.”

 

“Do you think it was to protect yourself?”

 

“I don’t know. From what?”

 

“Anything,” said Seungmin, pushing slightly off the ground. “From someone saying something insulting, from physical harm- although I doubt that would happen. Do you trust them?”

 

“...Yes,” he said. “I suppose I do. I don’t really have much reason not to. Honestly, what Minho said wasn’t even that bad. He just said it was hard for him to grasp the fact that I don’t believe in the supernatural.”

 

Seungmin hummed. Sounded like whatever had made Hyunjin leave the other two was deeper than mere frustration.

 

“It’s so easy for him to say,” Hyunjin continued. “With his psychic abilities and all. I know what he senses is real, whatever the cause. Even Felix ‘sees’ spirits. So why don’t I?” He threw up his hands in a half-hearted gesture of defeat. “How do I know the entire world isn’t just messing with me?”

 

Seungmin looked down at the woodchips. A sudden thought came to mind. “That’s a good point. I think it’s less that they’re special- Felix, anyways- and more that you have a mental block or something that’s preventing you from seeing spirits.”

 

Hyunjin’s pain cleared from his face to provide room for the dubious expression that he wore now. “A mental block?”

 

“Yeah,” said Seungmin, warming up to the idea as he spoke. “Because most people here have seen them, including me. So it’s strange that you can’t. Or won’t.”

 

“Sure,” drawled Hyunjin. “So, spirits only exist here in this town? Because most people wouldn’t see my situation in that way, since most people haven’t ever seen a spirit.”

 

“Sure they have,” Seungmin reasoned. “Random shadows with no source, movement from the corner of their eyes. Sometimes spirits look exactly like a normal person to the untrained eye. And remember, as you said yourself, spirits only appear the way they want to.”

 

Hyunjin grunted. “Fine, I guess,” he acquiesced. “But how do I know you guys aren’t just making this stuff up to mess with me?”

 

“You don’t,” Seungmin admitted. “The only way to know I’m telling the truth is to find it out for yourself. And for that to happen, you need to do something about that mental block of yours. But first, the disagreement with Felix and Minho. If you trust them, and if the situation isn’t as bad as you initially thought, then maybe you can go back and try again. After apologizing. And without running away again.”

 

Hyunjin looked at his shoes. They were dusty and covered in specks of wood. “Perhaps you’re right.” He dug his heels into the ground to stop his swing. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

 

Seungmin laughed lightly. “It’s much easier to reason through stuff with you when we’re talking face to face,” he commented. “Now, go talk to your friends.”

 

“Yes sir.”

 

——

 

Annoying, that’s what it was. The fact that Seungmin was so level headed and managed to send Hyunjin back to Minho and Felix with a whole new mess inside his head was... annoying.

 

He had made some good points, ones Hyunjin was quite curious to figure out; suggesting there was some mental block that made it impossible for him to see something so integral to his friend’s lives gave half answers to a lot of questions.

 

But still. 

 

Hyunjin drug his feet as he approached the door to their hotel room. It was closed, of course, and probably locked, but on a whim he reached out for the handle. To his surprise, the door opened easily and swung in. Minho and Felix looked up in alarm as Hyunjin entered and closed the door behind him. 

 

His cheeks burned red at the relief flooding their faces. It was clear they had been worried about him running away alone, even though it was the middle of the day. 

 

Felix rushed across the room to squeeze Hyunjin in a tight hug. “Hyunjin, thank the stars you’re back, we were just about to go looking for you.”

 

“We’re sorry we upset you,” Minho said, standing further back and wringing his hands nervously. “We thought about it, and decided it isn’t really that bad of an idea. But please, next time come back faster- you scared us to death.”

 

“But I was only gone for like half an hour,” Hyunjin said, voice muffled by Felix’s shoulder.

 

“Half an hour? Hyunjin, you left six hours ago.”

 

“Six?!” Hyunjin jumped out of Felix’s embrace and rushed to the nearest clock, which happened to be on a nightstand. Sure enough, the face read 6:12; Hyunjin gaped at it in dismay.

 

“Six…” He whirled around to face his two friends. “I swear, it was noon only half an hour ago! There’s no way it took six hours for me to walk to the elementary school and back!”

 

“It’s been six hours,” Felix confirmed grimly.

 

“I’m not surprised,” said Minho, sitting on one of the beds.

 

“Huh?” Said Felix and Hyunjin simultaneously. Hyunjin set the clock back down. “What do you mean?”

 

“This isn’t a normal town,” he explained, “In case you haven’t noticed. The weather has been stormy and dry, Felix keeps seeing things, and you just experienced an irregular passage of time. I’ve been thinking,” he said, leaning forward, fingers massaging his temples, “it’s June. People are starting to see things. I think the time is nearly at hand. We’re going to experience the sixth moon curse ourselves.”

 

Felix and Hyunjin ogled at Minho for a moment, then both burst into questions. 

 

“We’re going to experience it? Are we the next victims?”

 

“Do we have any idea on who it could be?”

 

“Should we go home?”

 

“Hold up,” said Minho, hands raised at the two boys who were kneeling at his feet with eyes nearly bugging out of their heads. “I didn’t say it would target us, but I also wouldn’t say that it won’t. I think we’re in just as much trouble as everyone else in town. But we’ve known about the curse since our first day here, and made the decision not to leave.

 

“Secondly, I have no idea of who it  _ could  _ be. Even if we did know somehow, I doubt there’s anything we could do for them. I’ve been considering your proposal, Hyunjin, and I think it would be useful to go find the circle.” 

 

Hyunjin frowned and shook his head slightly. “Minho, it really wasn’t a very good idea. We don’t have to go.”

 

“I never said it was a good idea, but it’s a necessary one. We’ve never really had to put our lives on the line like this before, but this town needs it.”

 

The two looked at Felix, who was the only one who had yet to weigh in his opinion.

 

“I’m gonna be honest, the biggest thing on my mind right now is finding out who my Shadow is. Now that we know it may be someone we’ve met…” he shuddered. “It’s been bothering me. But my hope is that going to The Circle may provide us with some clues.”

 

“Well, we’ve made our decision, then,” Minho said. ‘It’s too late to head out now- it’s bad enough that we’re going out to The Circle at all, let alone after dark- so I say we eat something, and then continue seeing what we can find out on our own.”

 

“Great, another seance,” Felix mumbled as he shrugged on a jacket. “Just what I needed.”

 

——

 

The weather the next day was, unsurprisingly, dismal. Despite the blanket of storm clouds that had draped itself over the valley for the past week, there had been not a hint of rain. The air was prickly with an electric charge.

 

“Well, look at it this way,” Felix said, readjusting his backpack. “At least we won’t overheat and die, or roast under the sun.”

 

Minho handed their taxi driver a bill, and the man sped away. He turned towards the towering peaks.

 

“There’s definitely something fishy going on in these mountains,” he sniffed. “I felt it on our first day here, although it eventually faded to the back of my mind. But now that we’re so close…” he shuddered, the dread sinking to the bottom of his stomach. “It’s back, and it’s anything but good.”

  
  


‘Well, let’s get going, then,” Hyunjin said. “Because our sunlight is wasting away, and we definitely don’t want to be out here when the sun disappears behind the ridge.”

 

With Hyunjin’s warning in mind, they began the trek. They were still a ways away from the mountain, so the trail was largely flat with occasional slopes. Weeds and grass sprouted from the gravel they walked on, proving the superstitious behavior of the townsfolk led them to avoid this route like the plague while the sixth moon curse was active. 

 

“This isn’t too bad,” Felix said, walking along with a bounce in his step. “There’re those flowers Mrs. Bang equates with Chan. Black eyed Susan’s.

 

Minho and Hyunjin peered into a fairly distant meadow. Sure enough, the field was dotted with clumps of small yellow flowers. Minho plucked one that was growing closer to the trail and pressed it into a little notebook.

 

They continued walking, occasionally pausing to point out things from Mrs. Bang’s story, or commenting on how pleasant of a walk it was. After a solid hour or so, Minho stopped the other two. 

 

“So, we’re about four miles into the hike, which means we could encounter The Circle quite soon, so I think it’s about time to get out the equipment and prepare for a possible encounter.”

 

Hyunjin and Felix nodded quietly and got to work as Minho performed a quick reading. Within five minutes, Hyunjin had the camera and audio recorder up and running, Felix had three spray bottles (filled with holy water, of course) and various charms and herbs stored in little bags, and Minho was leaning back on his heels to analyze the meaning of his reading. 

 

“Check the sound. That’s what it says.” He flipped the notebook closed. “No warnings or anything, so I think we’ll be safe this time around. Unless, of course, whatever just gave us our advice is malovent.”

 

“I guess we’ll find out,” Hyunjin muttered, fiddling with the settings of the camera before pointing it at Minho. “Here we go.”

 

“So, it’s been a week since we landed in this charming little valley, and we’ve definitely seen some strange things since we began our investigation.” Walking backwards while facing the camera, Minho explained their reason for visiting the old town loop. The previous evening, they had recounted the story told by Mrs. Bang about the tragedy of 3racha. Slowly, they were piecing together the episode, but the mystery was far from solved. 

 

Behind Minho, the ghost town emerged from the foliage; the buildings were warped in a cartoonish way, and a chilling breeze swept down the trail and ruffled Hyunjin’s hair. 

 

“Behind you,” he commented. “We’re here.”

 

Minho turned slowly, as if he had been aware of the town’s presence since they began filming. 

 

“It’s like dominos,” Felix said, bravely placing a hand on the wall of the nearest structure. “Ya’ll think if I push it, the whole town will topple over?”

 

“I think you shouldn’t try,” Hyunjin said. “Whatever lives here would sue us, and we don’t make  _ that _ much money from the show.”

 

Minho pushed his way back into the frame. “It’s intervention time. Felix, don’t break stuff, we don’t need another m&m incident. Hyunjin, could I have the audio recorder?”

 

Hyunjin handed him the recorder.

 

“Ok, you guys know the drill by now. I’m going to turn on the audio recorder- it’s extremely sensitive, so it’ll catch even the slightest sound- and I’m gonna try to speak to the presence I feel hanging over my shoulder right now.”

 

“You’re kidding me,” Hyunjin deadpanned. 

 

“Shh, Hyunjin,” said Felix. “I don’t see anything either, but we gotta let Minho do his thing or he’ll whine all the way back home.”

 

Hyunjin shut up. 

 

“Right. You’re being recorded… now. Who are you? What’s your name?”

 

They all waited a few seconds. The breeze ruffled the trees, and it got so cold Minho’s breath steamed.

 

“You’re here, I can feel you. Do you have anything to say? If you wanna pound some sense into Hyunjin, I give you my permission.”

 

“Hey!” Hyunjin exclaimed. “Why m-“

 

Something ruffled his hair. 

 

“What the- Felix, stop touching my hair!” 

 

Felix, who was an arms length away, quirked his eyebrow at Hyunjin. His hands were clasped behind his back.

 

Minho chuckled. “You have a sense of humor, I see.” He looked up from his inspection of the sound waves on the recorder, and froze.

 

“It’s you,” he said.

 

Hyunjin and Felix’s heads whipped around to where Minho’s stare was directed.

 

“It’s who?” Hyunjin whispered.

 

“My shadow,” Felix muttered. “They still haven’t taken a corporeal form.”

 

Kneeling on the ground, Minho kept his composure, but his hands had begun to shake. “I- I can’t see you very clearly,” he admitted. “Who are you?”

 

Both his and Felix’s eyes followed the movement of the air, and Hyunjin did his best to direct the camera towards wherever their heads turned. He still saw nothing.

 

The silence was broken when Minho slammed his palm on the ground. “They’re gone,” he stated. “Dispersed like fog.”

 

“I think we need to go anyways,” Hyunjin said, stopping the video and swiping the recorder off the ground. “The sun sets in two hours, and we need sufficient time to get home.”

 

As the three of them stowed their equipment safely into their backpacks, Felix turned back to run his eyes over the town. “We’ll return,” he said softly. “I’ll see you again.”

 

——

 

The sun winked out over the ridge just as Felix, Minho, and Hyunjin stumbled into their hotel room. 

 

“That was close,” Felix said, shutting the blinds. Who knew what was out there?

 

“We need to review the evidence,” Minho said. “To see if the audio is any different from what we heard, to see if the camera picked up anything more than a shadow.”

 

They started with the video- the camera had pulled a Hyunjin. There was nothing abnormal about the film.

 

But then they moved on to the audio.

 

They skipped forward to where Minho spoke to the shadow directly. Immediately when they unpaused, they heard a collection of sound that hadn’t been present when they were interacting with the spirit face to face.

 

_ “I-I can’t see you very clearly,”  _ Minho said, voice strong and crackly due to the recorder’s extreme sensitivity.  _ “Who are you?” _

 

_ “Ah,”  _ said a totally new voice. Hyunjin jumped back; this had never happened back in The Circle.  _ “But you already know who I am. You’ve spoken of me yourself.” _

 

_ “My name is Changbin.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please welcome mr Seo Changbin to the stage!!!!
> 
> I felt like I had to post today... SKZ first win... it’s 4419... 
> 
> (Also I’ve Been Anticipating This Part Since The Beginning Omg)
> 
> Updates will be slow for the next month or so, I’ll be putting all my writing time into a huge paper for AP English and then I’m taking no fewer than 5 AP tests......... kill me
> 
> How do y’all think 3racha, oec, and yyxy are gonna fit into the fic? Do y’all have any theories on how 3racha died?? I’m curious owo


	6. An Early Morning Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seo Changbin, everyone

_ “My name is Changbin,”  _ said the unfamiliar voice- Changbin. His voice had a slightly gravelly quality just under the surface, as if he had swallowed sand and it had integrated itself into his vocal tone. 

 

“Changbin,” said Felix, mouth hanging open in shock. “Like, Seo Changbin? Chan’s friend? The one who went missing?”

 

“Mrs. Bang was right,” Minho replied. “Looks like they didn’t make it.”

 

_ “Quiet, Bin,”  _ said yet  _ another  _ new voice. This one was smooth and gentle; the way he formed his words sounded like a song.  _ “We don’t want to involve them in this any further than they are. It’s enough that you’ve now attempted to make contact.” _

 

_ “Talking to them shouldn’t do much,” _ said Changbin. 

 

_ “You never know,”  _ said the other guy.  _ “Following them around and talking to them alerts… other beings… that you’re attached to them. And that adds to the already impressive target on their backs.” _

 

There was nothing after that; in fact, the recording ended quite abruptly, even though they all knew it should go on for another minute or so. 

 

“Who was that?” Mused Minho, rocking back on his heels. “Either Chan or Jisung, I’m guessing, just based on the situation. Spirits from separate incidents rarely interact. This tells us something important, though. One, Changbin must have been the one who sent the message to listen to the tape during my reading. Second, as I mentioned earlier, Mrs. Bang was correct in her theory that Changbin and Jisung didn’t survive their encounter with the demon. And third, that means people who don’t live here can and have been victims of the curse, but I think we all knew that already; it just needed to be confirmed.”

 

“Ok, but can we discuss the ‘target on our backs’?” Felix grimaced. “I know we usually put ourselves in perilous situations- it’s part of the job, especially when Hyunjin taunts whatever we’re trying to lure out- but the other guy said our targets were ‘ _ already impressive’ _ .”

 

“I think we already knew that as well,” Minho pointed out. “We’ve just been ignoring the signs.”

 

“The sky,” Hyunjin muttered. His expression was cloudy and dark. 

 

“I agree,” Minho said. “At first I dismissed it as a thunderstorm that was just taking a while to erupt, but it’s been brewing ever since we got here. I think it’s time we recognize that’s not a normal storm.”

 

Just then, a ding sounded from the other side of the room. Hyunjin stood up to retrieve his phone, thinking it was just a message from Seungmin, or something. However, when he checked the notification, his stomach dropped.

 

**We hunt spirits or smth gc**

 

**Yves**

Leave

_ [10:27 p.m] _

 

“Leave…?” He muttered, wandering back to sit down with his friends. “Guys, Yves from yyxy just texted us.”

 

Minho and Felix pulled out their own phones to monitor the conversation.

  
  


**Hyunjin**

You’re alive omg…

What do you mean leave?

_ [10:27 p.m] _

 

**Yves**

You said you’re in that cursed town

If you’re really there, you know what I’m talking about

Leave

_ [10:29 p.m] _

 

**Minho**

Yves is everything ok?

We’re safe rn it’s ok

_ [10:29 p.m] _

 

**Yves**

You aren’t safe, not at all

Listen, can we call you guys

Are you somewhere private?

_ [10:30 p.m] _

 

**Minho**

As private as it gets

_ [10:31 p.m] _

 

The moment Minho sent the text, all three of their phones began to vibrate as Yves called the group chat. Hyunjin was the one to pick up.

 

“Hello, Yves.”

 

“Listen.” Her voice was crackly over the speaker, and filled to the brim with urgency. “If nothing bad has happened yet, you must leave before it does. We didn’t heed the warnings the town gave us, and we paid the price.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“If you recall, we went on hiatus immediately after returning from our shoot in that town. That’s because Olivia was… injured, while we were there, and later at home Gowon was also injured. We heard that the mountains were especially active, and planned a hike to this ghost town called The Circle.”

 

“We’ve been there,” Felix interjected. “This afternoon, actually.”

 

“Then it may already be too late for you,” she said grimly. “All we know is that Olivia went into the chapel, and was different when she left. Of course, we didn’t notice it right away; she was normal for a little while. Then she started acting weird— standing in the hallway for hours in the middle of the night, dropping feathers everywhere with no explanation. One night Gowon woke up to Olivia standing in her doorway. Our standard procedure when that happens is to guide Olivia back to her bed, and when she wakes up in the morning she’s back to her usual self. But this time when Gowon got out of bed and made to approach Olivia, she started glowing red.

 

“I mean, it isn’t the weirdest thing that’s happened to us, and Gowon even said later that she had the urge to laugh at the sight, but this time it was different. It was one of  _ us.  _ And Olivia didn’t do anything— she just stood there, staring at Gowon with red eyes. Gowon still tried to help her- because we used to deal with things like this every day, as you know- but the moment she touched Olivia her eyes flared, and she threw Gowon across the room.”

 

“She.. she threw Gowon? Like with her arms?” Minho was sitting cross legged with his elbows on his knees, but as Yves recounted her story, he had begun to lean forward.

 

“No, like psychokinesis. Gowon hit the wall and punctured a lung on one of her ribs. We only learned of Olivia’s technique a while after, when the both of them were fully conscious- all Chuu and I heard was something colliding with the wall, and when we got to Gowon’s room, we saw Olivia silhouetted in the doorway, and in front of her was Gowon on the floor in the fetal position. Olivia had ceased all glowing; she simply stood and stared at Gowon with immense pain in her eyes. Despite the emotion we could tell was there, she did nothing to aid Gowon.

 

“We decided in that moment to place a binding charm on Olivia, which restricted her to Gowon’s room. After a few minutes she wandered enough that we could enter and retrieve Gowon. 

 

“We took Gowon to the emergency room, of course; they didn’t have the appropriate equipment to help her, so we flew back to the city to get her treated there. She spent a few weeks in the hospital there while we kept Olivia occupied. She had regressed into herself— the murderous intent was gone, but she remained in that vegetative state, not speaking or doing really anything by herself.

 

“It’s been that way ever since. Gowon recovered, but Olivia never did. She’s still wandering aimlessly through the halls, and we must always be prepared for the case in which she reverts back into whatever she was that horrible night. My point is, if things were already very dangerous when we visited in April of last year, your situation is incredibly risky, to the point where it would be better if you just came home.”

 

Minho looked at the two boys sitting next to him. They both looked scared out of their wits and anxious about their possible demise, but they also sat with a kind of stability and determination that belied their fear. Looking at them both, Minho knew that all three of them had reached the same conclusion.

 

“We appreciate your concern and have taken your words to heart,” he said slowly, “and we are saddened by Olivia’s situation, but people are dying. People have  _ been  _ dying for centuries, and we think that’s gone on long enough. The situation is perilous, yes; we may get hurt, or even die; but we would rather save an entire town and their future generations and lose our lives, than allow this cycle to continue for eternity when we know we may have the power to end it.”

 

“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you when things go wrong,” Yves sighed. “I guess I’ll start writing your eulogies. Good luck, guys.”

 

“Bye, Yves.”

 

She murmured something about stupid boys and hung up.

 

“Well, that was encouraging,” Hyunjin said after a beat of silence, running a hand through his hair. “I think I’m gonna go take a shower. Let me know if the world ends while I’m gone.”

 

———

 

_ “It may already be too late for you.” _

 

The clock read 3:38 a.m, and Felix hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep.

 

His mind had been running in circles since Yves had shared that thought with them nearly 5 hours ago. He continually combed through his memories of the short time they spent in The Circle, trying to find a moment similar to what Olivia had done. The closest thing he could conjure was when he himself joked about pushing the buildings over like dominos, which was nothing near something as sacrilegious as  entering a quite questionable, probably haunted church with no backup. 

 

He turned from his left side to his right, sulking. 

 

If they had to stay in town to solve the mystery and save the people, he would do so without complaint; whether or not he was ready to die for it was another matter altogether. He had barely spent a week here, after all; and while he had made some friends and met good, worthy people, he was hesitant to sacrifice himself for a general population that chose to ignore the curse and the suffering of those affected by it. 

 

As Felix warred with his thoughts, he became aware of a gentle breeze wafting over his face. At first, he grumbled, thinking Minho or Hyunjin must have left the window open; but then, he realized it smelled of lavender— surely something that wouldn’t be a typical scent on a summer breeze. 

 

He opened his eyes, searching for the source of the smell, and fixated on the shadow standing at the wall right in front of him. 

 

“Changbin?” He whispered, barely audible. The shadow nodded.                              

 

He sat up, the covers bunched at his waist. “What’s happening? Are we going to die?”

 

Changbin shrugged, then gestured towards the window. 

 

“What does that mean? The window is closed, nothing can get in.”

 

Changbin moved along the wall to arrive at the door, where he mimicked opening it.

 

“You want me to leave,” Felix surmised.

 

Changbin nodded and held up his finger in a ‘wait’ gesture, then pointed to himself.

 

“You want me to leave… with you.”           

 

Changbin shot him a thumbs up.

 

“But… dude, it’s dangerous out there. I don’t even know your intentions. What if you just bring me to the demon?”

 

Changbin’s chest heaved like he was sighing, and he shook his head slowly. He made a praying gesture, then pantomimed throwing a couple punches, held up a four, and pointed at Felix. 

 

“You’d beat things up for me.”

 

Changbin nodded.

 

Felix exhaled sharply, then climbed out of bed, grumbling, “it’s not like this isn’t the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.” 

 

Silently, he pulled on his shoes and a jacket, leaving on his sweatshirt and flannel pajama pants. He half-heartedly made an attempt to pat down his hair (which was sticking up in all sorts of directions from his tossing and turning), grabbed a room key and a spray bottle filled with holy water, and left Minho and Hyunjin sleeping peacefully behind.

 

Changbin’s shadow flitted down the hallway as Felix followed him at a brisk pace, eyes searching the windows for anything out of the ordinary.

 

He stopped at the door to the outside world. “Wait,” he said, “what if it’s locked and I can’t get back in?”

 

Changbin waved a shadowy hand over the handle. The lock clicked twice as he manipulated it.

 

Felix frowned, and pushed the door open. Outside, it was pitch black; the dark storm clouds blocked any light coming from the moon and the stars, and it was still too early for the sun to lighten the shades of blackness around Felix. 

 

He turned towards Changbin to ask what he wanted Felix for, and jumped when he saw an actual person standing there. 

 

Changbin was all angles, from the slope of his jaw, to the folds of his clothes, to the way he held himself. He wore all black, although the style was definitely over ten years old. His raven hair shone under the light coming from the door of the motel, falling over his forehead and into his equally dark eyes. He looked solid and tangible, the only thing betraying his living appearance being the lack of a shadow underneath his feet.

 

Also, he was quite short.

 

“I- hello,” Felix stammered, taken aback by the sudden appearance of a person who, until now, had been nothing but a concept.

 

Changbin raised his eyebrows, then did a small pump of his fist with a smirk. “I was right! You can see me at the witching hour. Most people react more to me at around 3 in the morning. I’m Changbin, by the way. It’s nice to finally be able to actually talk to you.”

 

“...Same here,” Felix said. “I’m Felix.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Right.”

 

“Anyways, I was just checking in on you guys and noticed you were having a hard time getting to sleep, so I wanted to help you out.”

 

“By making me go outside and possibly get murdered by a demon? Sorry, I don’t really understand your reasoning.”

 

“Oh, that part was unplanned. I meant before that. Lavender is supposed to help you sleep.”

 

“Oh,” Felix said. “I’ve heard of that.”

 

Changbin chuckled. “Obviously, it didn’t work. That’s ok, though. I figured I could tell you a bit about The Circle, since you guys are just senselessly poking around there with no real purpose.”

 

“That would be fantastic, actually,” Felix said, “but I don’t have a notepad or recorder or anything.”

 

“You’ll just have to remember it,” Changbin said. “And if you forget anything important, I’ll let your teammate know the next time he does a reading or seance.”

 

“Deal.” Felix began meandering down the sidewalk, guided by the streetlights overhead.

 

“So, you already know that place is much more active than the rest of town. That’s because it’s the location of the rift through which Inimicus visits, as well as the home of a trio of witches.”

 

“Hold up. Who’s Inimicus?” 

 

“The entity that visits every thirteen years and cast the sixth moon curse. Why he comes or where he comes from, nobody knows.”

 

“And the witches?”

 

“Yes, them. They’ve put themselves in charge of making sure Inimicus doesn’t go too crazy when he comes. In other words, they’re the reason this town still exists, and only a couple people fall victim to him. They don’t hold enough power to close the rift, though. It takes them thirteen years just to build up the spells that restrict the entity. If, one day, Inimicus decided to return before the time the curse is due, the town would be doomed. And who’s to say he wouldn’t move on from there? The entire world would be in danger.”

 

“So basically the town is in trouble all the time, and the only thing keeping it from total destruction is the fact that Inimicus sticks to a schedule?”

 

“Essentially. Also, the witches live in the church, which is why we saw a movement on the second floor, as Chan’s mom said.”

 

“You know we met Mrs. Bang?”

 

“There are lots of shadows to hide in here,” Changbin replied. “Your group has interested me since you arrived, which is why I’ve been trailing you. You just happen to be much more visually perceptive than the others in your group.”

 

“That’s how it’s been since the beginning,” Felix said. “So if the witches live in the church and try to prevent Inimicus from causing too much damage, why did they curse Olivia when her crew was here a year ago?”

 

“That didn’t happen on purpose, from what I’ve heard. They were attempting a new charm, which failed, and Olivia was caught in the resulting shockwave. If she returns, they may be able to reverse the effect.”

 

“Really?! That’s fantastic news,” Felix exclaimed. “I’ll let them know.”

 

“Yes,” Changbin said, eyes tracing dead leaves as they skittered across the street. He and Felix had reached the end of the block, and on the other side of the street, he spotted a gathering of lesser spirits standing just outside the circle of light caused by the streetlight. Glaring at them, he ghosted a hand over Felix’s back and turned them around.

 

“So, in terms of defeating Inimicus, I’m afraid there’s nothing I can say that would help you. Nobody living has really tried before, and none of his past victims have the power to attempt it, either. Well, except for-“

 

He stopped himself before he could finish the sentence, but Felix pressed on.

 

“Except for what?”

 

“Nothing. I was thinking of someone who may have had the power, if they weren’t incapacitated. Don’t worry about it.”

 

Felix narrowed his eyes, but dropped the topic. They walked in silence for a few seconds.

 

Then- “Why black eyed susan’s?”

 

Changbin turned his head to Felix, then back to where he had been inspecting the ground.

 

“That was after we passed. Chan knew his mother would be looking for something to identify him, so he mustered quite a bit of energy to place a couple flowers next to the only thing that remained after we fell prey to Inimicus.”

 

Felix winced. “That’s rough.”

 

“Tell me about it,” Changbin said. “Chan had to watch she and Yongguk go through the grieving process. He was constantly tempted to reveal himself to them, but knew that if he did so, it would take them longer to move on.”

 

“Except they really haven’t.”

 

“That’s the thing,” Changbin said, nodding. “None of them have moved on. But over the years, Chan learned from other spirits that interacting with living people brings attention to them, so that’s what keeps him from contacting his mother. He would be furious if he knew I was talking to you face to face.”

 

“If it puts us in danger, and gets you in trouble, why  _ are  _ you talking to us?”

 

“Being dead gets boring,” Changbin muttered, scuffling the ground but not disturbing a speck of dust. “You see the same faces every day, face the same fears, fear the same outcomes. I was lonely. Also, I figured if anyone has a chance of defeating Inimicus, it’s you three. Especially if you had help from others.”

 

“I’d hug you if I could,” said Felix. They had arrived back at the motel. “Who could we get help from?”

 

“You’ve met them already,” Changbin said cryptically. “Well, most of them, anyways. All you have to do is assemble the team and come up with a strategy.”

 

Felix rolled his eyes. “Of course we have to figure it out.”

 

“It’s best if you do it yourself,” Changbin defended. “I don’t know everything, anyways. In your research, you may come across something or somebody that could help you more than I ever could. Also, I can’t do any further research. I can’t even pick up a book.”

 

“Well,” said Felix, stretching, “I’ll sleep on it, and let you know later. Somehow.” He turned the handle of the door, and stepped inside. “Goodnight, Changbin.”

 

“Stay safe.”

 

The door closed behind Felix, and Changbin was left alone in dark. He turned to the dark, glitching figure standing next to the neon sign that was declaring “vacancy”.

 

“You stay away from them,” Changbin warned. “They aren’t yours to have.”

 

Then he turned, and disappeared into the shadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple announcements!
> 
> \- 100 kudos already I’m quaking— thank you guys so much for the support!! Every kudo, comment, and bookmark gives me just that much more energy to write!!
> 
> \- A reminder that updates will be slower until mid may 
> 
> \- If you find yourselves missing me ;))) I’m very active on [twitter](https://mobile.twitter.com/gravberry) and recently got a [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/gravberry) , if you wish to talk to me but don’t feel like following my twitter lmao
> 
> \- o yea one last thing... i love u guys!!


	7. Minho Gets A Headache

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for taking so long! i wish i could say this chap is longer to make up for it but it’s actually rlly short jdkskfvk

Minho awoke with a headache.

 

This was not uncommon; his dreams were scores more vivid and intense than the norm due to his psychic abilities. In dreams he was constantly accosted by spirits who had yet to pass on, attempting to make personal contact. In dreams he often saw clips of the past or, on very rare occasions, the future. He knew that in these dreams he was nothing but a visitor, a spectator to the events unfolding.

 

But his dream last night? That had had a different effect.

 

The details of the dream were hazy. This  _ was  _ uncommon— Minho always remembered his dreams in technicolor, full surround sound, scene for scene. 

 

He sat up, shoulders hunched, eyes still screwed shut, and strove to recall the fleeting memory. 

 

_ It wasn’t dark, but it wasn’t light, either. Minho stepped forward, but found the movement to be extremely difficult— the best way to describe it would be like pushing against a fairly large cardboard box full of books, but only with one’s legs. Each step took more effort than the last, and when he paused- sweaty, panting, quivering- to take a look around, it was impossible to glean whether he had actually even moved at all.  _

 

_ For there were no surroundings, simply a great, gray expanse, shifting with a weighty, invisible force that swept around his calves. There was no horizon, no objects to cast shadows on the ground; Minho, himself, couldn’t even tell if his feet were on a surface, or if he was floating, or if his ankles were buried in inches of dirt or concrete. _

 

_ He struggled forward again, stopping every few steps to place his hands on his knees and take a breather. This seemed to continue for hours, days, perhaps even weeks. No matter how exhausted Minho was, the invisible force kept pushing him onward, onward, until finally, he collapsed. _

 

_ Laying on his side, limbs in an awkward position but too drained to even consider moving them to something more comfortable, Minho stared with hazy eyes out at the great, gray expanse. _

 

_ A silhouette appeared, small at first but steadily growing larger and larger. Minho dimly realized this meant they were moving towards him, and exhaled with a wry twist of his lip. If they meant to harm him, there was nothing he could do to stop them. _

 

_ Finally, the silhouette crouched in front of his weary body and tilted its head. It had no defining features. Minho suddenly realized he couldn’t even tell if it had a form to begin with— did it even have a head to tilt? Was it crouching, or was it looming over him? Even as his brain strained to comprehend a being with no form, he knew he recognized features on its face- eyes, a nose, a mouth. The figure stretched out a limb- perhaps an arm- and, with a single digit, poked his forehead, dead center. _

 

Minho cracked his eyes open.

 

The room was gray, just like the great expanse of his dream; but there was a TV, a lamp standing in the corner. The dim morning light filtering through the curtains hit the adjacent wall. Hyunjin and Felix lay in the other bed, lumps under the comforter, their forms rising and falling steadily as they breathed. 

 

A sharp pain behind his eyes set his head spinning, and Minho flopped back onto his pillow. With his eyes closed, it was almost dark enough to pass for night again, but he was afraid to face the silhouette again.

 

What was it with this town and odd beings that never showed their true selves? 

 

Once he could open his eyes without seeing stars, Minho stumbled to the bathroom, hand trailing the wall for balance. There, on the counter, was the bottle of painkillers.

 

He took two.

 

After washing his face and taking a moment just to stand there, Minho felt marginally better. He emerged to Hyunjin yanking the blinds open, which had him back on the bed with his face in the pillow to avoid the light. Since he was otherwise occupied, he didn’t see Felix do the same thing, but with more groaning.

 

“Guys, it’s like, noon. It’s time to get up,” Hyunjin said peevishly. 

 

“Then why don’t you get up, and leave us to suffer,” Minho grumbled into the pillow.

 

“I would, except we made a rule not to go out alone.”

 

Felix stiffened, not that anyone noticed.

 

“Also, I’ve been awake for like four hours, but I didn’t want to cause a hassle, so I’ve just been laying in bed. You know when you lay down for too long and your back starts to hurt? Well that happened like three hours ago…”

 

Hyunjin’s rant faded into background noise as Minho voluntarily began shutting him out. He lay there, not knowing quite what emotions he was feeling until Hyunjin tapped his leg.

 

“Yo, earth to Minho. We made plans to meet up with Seungmin and his friends today, remember? That’s in like half an hour.”

 

Minho bolted up, eyes shooting daggers at Hyunjin. “Just go! Leave me alone!”

 

Hyunjin froze. Behind him, Felix paused in fixing his hair, eyes darting between the two.

 

Minho winced and put his face in his hands. “I’m sorry,” he apologized weakly. “It seems I’ve woken up in a bad mood. You guys should probably leave me here so I can chill out and not attack anyone else.”

 

Hyunjin took his hand off Minho’s leg rapidly, as if it had burned him. Standing tall with his shoulders straight and a blank expression on his face, he said, “That’s probably a good idea. Text us when you’re feeling better, and we’ll come pick you up.”

 

He and Felix walked out soon after that, leaving Minho to wrestle with his throbbing head.

  
  


————-

  
  


Seungmin glanced up when a knock at Woojin’s door had Jeongin scurrying to open it. He returned back to his book immediately after, but his ears stayed focused on the voices echoing through the hallway.

 

“Oh, hey there, guys! You’re early. Where’s Minho?”

 

“He has a headache,” came Felix’s deep voice. “Also, he’s being unpleasant today and that’s never fun so we left him at the hotel.”

 

Their voices stayed stationary as Jeongin and Felix chatted by the door, but Hyunjin wandered out of the hallway and came to stand behind Seungmin. He looked vaguely upset, but like he was trying to hide it. Seungmin decided to address that later, instead of sooner.

 

“What’re you reading?” Hyunjin asked, leaning over Seungmin to scan a few lines. His chest brushed the back of Seungmin’s head, which neither of them took note of. Definitely not. 

 

“The Woman In Black,” Seungmin said. “I have to read it for class, and analyze how the author incorporates Gothic and supernatural themes into it, even though it was written in the 80’s.”

 

“Is it good?”

 

“Yeah, I guess so. It’s definitely an interesting idea. I’m legally obligated to hate it since it’s homework, though.”

 

“I’m assuming the class is taught by that old dude who pulled a ‘teens these days’ schpeal in the supermarket.”

 

“The one and only,” Seungmin sighed. He patted the open space next to him on the couch, and Hyunjin walked around the arm to sit next to him. Sitting on this couch definitely wasn’t the most pleasant experience, but the way Hyunjin sunk heavily into it with a groan could’ve fooled anyone.

 

By the time Felix and Jeongin joined the two in the living room, Hyunjin had already nodded off, his cheek pressed up against Seungmin’s shoulder as his brow unfurrowed. Felix chuckled and pulled out his phone to take a picture.

 

“For blackmail purposes,” he said.

 

“Would he even be embarrassed for something like that?” Jeongin wondered. 

 

Felix deflated a little, knowing Jeongin was right. “No, he’d probably ask me to send him the picture.”

 

The front door opened and closed as Woojin entered, followed by Haseul, Vivi, and Yeojin. All four of them were loaded with groceries.

 

“Nobody’s bought fresh meat and produce in a while, so it was all on sale,” Woojin explained, setting his bags down on the little counter. “We couldn’t just let it rot. We were thinking of inviting everybody’s parents over, along with Yongguk and his mom. Where’s Minho?”

 

“Grumpy,” Felix said, flopping down onto the shag carpet.

 

“That sounds like a good idea,” Seungmin said, shifting Hyunjin’s head a little so his neck wouldn’t ache when he woke up. “Although, are you sure your apartment is big enough to host that many people?”

 

Woojin assessed his domain. Nearly the entire apartment was visible from the kitchen, and it was already crowded with only 8 people standing around.

 

“You people can just pile on top of each other,” he concluded. “I don’t think that will be a problem, since y’all do it all the time anyways. As long as I have enough forks, I think it’s ok.”

 

Yeojin clapped her hands. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get moving!”

 

————-

 

Minho checked the time. 6:12; it had already been seven hours since Hyunjin and Felix left, although Minho could’ve sworn it had only been half an hour.

 

This time skip was the same as the one Hyunjin had experienced.

 

He dragged himself off the bed and into the bathroom to renew his painkillers.

 

He took three.

 

He was feeling a bit better than he had when Felix and Hyunjin left, well enough to know that an apology was in order. He had had no right to snap at Hyunjin in the way he did, especially when he knew how much importance Hyunjin placed on social interactions. 

 

Hyunjin was good at hiding his true feelings when he chose to; despite having legions of friends, fans, and acquaintances, there were a very select few whom he allowed into his heart. And once one was allowed into Hyunjin’s heart, they owed it to him to stay there, to stay with him, to support him.

 

What Minho had said to him today was in violation of this law.

 

He had seen how Hyunjin had shut down after his outburst. To an outsider, Hyunjin would’ve just appeared cool and collected, but Minho knew that internally, Hyunjin was reeling. His emotions ran deep and strong, and harsh words cut into him like a knife. 

 

Minho sighed and blinked a few times (for he had been staring at the wall as he pondered his mistake), then unlocked his phone and texted Felix that he was feeling well enough to join them. Felix texted back immediately, saying something along the lines of ‘ _ i hope ur hungry bc woojin made enough food to feed a stadium’ _ . Then, following that:  _ ‘could u steal the hotel mugs in our room and bring them with u? Woojin doesn’t have enough cups for everyone’. _

 

Shaking his head with a long-suffering smile, Minho gathered the four coffee mugs that had been gathering dust on the cabinet and stowed the painkillers in his pocket.

 

————-

 

Jeongin, Yeojin, and Felix met Minho right outside the motel.

 

“...Hyunjin?” Minho asked, fearing the other boy hadn’t wanted to see him.

 

“He’s kinda dozing,” Felix said, showing Minho a (cute) photo of Hyunjin and Seungmin snuggled up on a shabby couch. “Been doing that all day. Which is funny, considering how pushy he was this morning.

 

“He obviously just wanted to see Seungmin,” Yeojin said. 

 

“Yeah, what are the rest of us to him?” Jeongin muttered, shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets.

 

“Seungmin’s friends,” Yeojin supplied.

 

“That sounds about right.”

 

“I hope Seungmin’s ok with it,” Minho said. Hyunjin was exceptionally affectionate with people he liked. Apparently, Seungmin was now on the list. 

 

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’ve seen Seungmin really cuddle with anyone before,” Jeongin mused. “But he also doesn’t seem bothered by it, so he’s probably fine. He loves attention.”

 

“It may be worth warning him that now that he’s let Hyunjin cuddle with him, Hyunjin will just want more,” Minho said.

 

“Somehow, I don’t think Seungmin will have a problem with that,” Yeojin snickered. Jeongin flushed in second hand embarrassment, while Felix smirked and lazily scanned their surroundings.

 

Felix, Jeongin, and Yeojin made small talk as they walked past the cafe, the supermarket, and entered a small cul-de-sac of shabby, one-level apartments. The paint on their walls was peeling and dropping to the dirt below. The yellow grass under his feet (for there was no sidewalk, and the road was so old and cracked that he might as well have been walking on a lawn) crackled and snapped under his feet.

 

“Whose house are we going to again?” He asked.

 

“Woojin’s,” Jeongin replied. “He’s just a substitute teacher and has only been doing that for a year, so this is the best he could afford. It isn’t this bad inside, I promise. Woojin’s done a good job of fixing it up.”

 

“Woojin’s a sub,” Minho responded with interest.

 

“To some extent. We’re short on extra hands in the school and Woojin’s family couldn’t afford to send him to university despite the merit scholarship he received, so the school offered him a position here. He also helps out with recess and the library, so ‘sub’ is a flexible term at best.”

 

“That’s good of them,” Minho said.

 

“It’s the least they could do. Woojin’s the first person in years who seemed like he would make it further than community college.”

 

They climbed the concrete steps and entered the apartment as Minho thought on what he had just learned about Woojin. It appeared he was quite sharp, although Minho could’ve guessed on that by just having interacted with him.

 

Minho had been just procrastinating attending college in favor of shooting the show, while Woojin truly wanted it but couldn’t afford to attend. It was a little embarrassing.

 

“Oh, you guys are back,” Woojin said, wiping his hands on a towel. On the stove, a large pan sizzled as strips of meat were seasoned, browned, then lifted onto a platter by Haseul. “Hey, Minho.”

 

“Hi,” Minho said back. “Anything I can do to help?”

 

“Well, we’re just about done,” Woojin said. “You brought the mugs? Excellent. Those can go right there.” He pointed at a pile of mismatched glasses, mugs, and paper cups that had obviously been assembled by several households. 

 

Minho set the mugs down and organized the pile of drink containers (for lack of a better word), then the various plates, then separated the utensils into their respective categories. Woojin shooed him away when he returned to ask for more work, so he turned to the living room instead.

 

Hyunjin was no longer asleep— instead he was reading over Seungmin’s shoulder, occasionally pointing out passages and muttering in his ear while Seungmin jotted notes onto sticky tabs and placed them on the page. 

 

Felix was buried face-first in the shag carpet, while Yeojin and Jeongin leaned on him and scrolled through social media.

 

Vivi and Haseul giggled at something behind him in the kitchen, while Woojin placed food onto plates that, considering the smell wafting through the apartment, would be entirely ravaged by the time dinner was through (this was a job Minho could’ve done himself, but whatever).

 

Minho smiled quietly to himself at the natural comraderie between his friends and this group of town residents; it seemed almost as though they were meant to be together, here in a small apartment on a small cul-de-sac in a small, mountain-surrounded town. With demon problems.

 

Or, perhaps they could’ve been together anywhere.

 

Despite this feeling, something in Minho’s gut felt wrong, like they were missing something. Like this group, as it was, wasn’t complete.

 

He just wished he knew who else they were destined to meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minho is having a bad day lmao
> 
> Leave comments if u wish~ Are you guys enjoying it thus far? what do u like abt it? anything u want me to include in future chapters?
> 
> An announcement: I started a loona social media AU on twt! if u like orchestra and yvesoul go check it out! It’s been a little ia bc this week’s been busy but i should get back to updating that soon.


	8. Dinner and Light Small Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// child abuse. mostly neglect but there’s a bit of non-graphic violence as well

“You may scoff now, but someday it’ll really happen!” 

 

Jeongin pointed his fork at Woojin, who had his arms crossed and a highly skeptical look on his face.

 

Woojin rolled his eyes and leaned forward, fingers folded. “Jeongin, please. If I ever meet a bear, there’s  _ no way  _ we could be friends. Bears don’t even believe in teeth maintenance.”

 

“Ok, but you’re basically a bear, though,” Jeongin shot back.

 

Woojin gasped affrontedly. “Are you saying I don’t care about teeth maintenance?!”

 

Between Woojin and Jeongin sat a large group of amused spectators— their friends and their parents, along with Mrs. Bang and Yongguk. Heads whipped back and forth as the two discussed (argued) about whether Woojin would befriend a bear sometime in the near future.

 

“No- look- Woojin, you have the same hair color as a bear, you’re big like a bear, and you’re cuddly like a bear!”

 

“Jeongin- Felix, stop nodding, he’s wrong- since when have bears been  _ cuddly?  _ I’ve literally never heard of a real person cuddling a bear.”

 

“Christopher Robin.”

 

“He’s not a real person, and Winnie the Pooh is a teddy bear, Jeongin. I-“

 

“Can we just agree that if bears were cuddly, Woojin would be friends with them?” Haseul jumped in with a calm smile, but there was a steely look in her eyes that immediately quelled the two boys. Vivi patted her arm proudly.

 

_ Thank you, heavens, for gifting me a friend so wonderful as Haseul, _ Woojin thought, glancing upwards to where he assumed heaven was. He noticed a few other people at the table reacting in a similar way.

 

“Anyways, kids, dinner was wonderful,” said Seungmin’s aunt.

 

“Thank you,” Seungmin responded, only to be pinched by Yeojin. 

 

“You didn’t even make anything,” she hissed.

 

“I think it’s about time we got going,” Seungmin’s aunt continued. A few other adults nodded as well. “Seungminnie, are you coming?”

 

“I think I’ll stay at Woojin’s tonight,” Seungmin responded. Jeongin startled at that, then turned to his own parents, who acquiesced to his silent plea.

 

“That makes two hooligans sleeping at my house tonight,” Woojin sighed. “Anyone else?” 

 

Yeojin stretched. “No offense, but I prefer my own bed. I’m peacing out.”

 

“I think Vivi and I will get going too,” Haseul said.

 

Felix, Minho, and Hyunjin sat awkwardly, not knowing what to say. They felt quite friendly with the local boys, but weren’t sure they were invited.

 

“I’ve got some extra toothbrushes,” Woojin said, turning to the three boys, who straightened up with surprise. “Since I’m not a bear, which doesn’t care about dental hygiene.”

 

Felix beamed at Woojin, and that was that. Everybody began preparing to leave, as Woojin made his way into the kitchen to begin with the dishes. Turning around to place a plate on the drying rack, he was surprised to find Yongguk’s mother scooping leftovers into containers.

 

“Mrs Bang, you’re still here?” He said with interest. “Where’s Yongguk?”

 

“Entertaining the masses and keeping them out of the kitchen,” she responded, snapping the lid on a box of potatoes. A chorus of giggles erupted from the guest bedroom, Yongguk’s deep, hoarse voice among them. “I would like to thank you.”

 

“What for?” 

 

“Inviting Guk and I. Making us part of this big family, even though we don’t have much to do with your group. It may not seem like much to you, but to us, it’s everything. And don’t think I don’t notice the other little things you do for us. Guk appreciates the books, by the way. He was running out of things to read.”

 

“Ah, well, it’s the least I could do,” Woojin said. “I just wish I could do more.”

 

“You’re doing enough,” she said. “Please, if you ever need help, come to us. We’ll help you figure it out.”

 

“Thank you, Mrs Bang.”

 

“Please, call me Sunmi,” she said, smile crinkling the corners of her eyes. “Have a good evening, Woojin.”

 

————-

 

Woojin was washing his face in the bathroom when words started writing themselves on his steam-fogged mirror. Outside in the living room, his guests were preparing for the night.

 

_ Thank you. _

 

“You don’t need to thank me,” he responded, drying his face with a towel. “I would’ve invited them anyways. I like them.

 

_ Maybe so, but it pains me to see them both so unhappy. They’re better when they’re around you. _

 

“Why don’t you just talk to them? You sound more strained every day. I think it would do you good.”

 

_ You know I can’t, _ said the tapping on the counter. Woojin had had to learn morse code just to understand the spirit through his preferred method of communication.

 

“In fact, why don’t you even talk to  _ me  _ directly? That’s something I’ve always wondered.”

 

_ I can’t do that either,  _ knocked the wall inside the shower.  _ It would be too dangerous for you. _

 

“As if I’m not in danger just by living here,” Woojin muttered, leaning on the counter. “Look, if you want the shock factor if- when you appear, that’s not gonna work. I know what you look like, Chan.”

 

_ Speaking to you directly just increases the danger you’re in,  _ Chan responded.  _ Also, if I did that, I think Changbin would find a way to murder me. It’s killing him, not being able to talk to those paranormal investigators. _

 

Woojin paused for a moment to interpret the lengthy series of knocks coming from underneath the floor. “You’re telling me you banned him from speaking to the others, and yet you’re speaking to me right now?”

 

_ I’m not speaking to you,  _ Chan responded cheekily.  _ I’m haunting your house and knocking on your wall, and my patterns just so happen to correspond to whatever you’re saying. _

 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Woojin sighed.

 

_ Ghosts don’t sleep, but ok. _

 

Woojin threw a peace sign as he left the bathroom, assuming Chan could see it from wherever he was hiding. Emerging from the bathroom, he was disappointed (but definitely not surprised) to see the main room of the house in shambles. Pillows and blankets were strewn across the floor, and various snack foods had found little niches to sit. His guests themselves were lazing around, half covered by blankets. Hyunjin and Minho stood in a corner, speaking quietly.

 

“What’s up with them?” Woojin asked, nodding towards the two as he buried himself in his own nest of blankets.

 

“Minho’s apologizing,” Seungmin said. He was nearly finished with his book. “Apparently, Minho’s the reason Hyunjin was off earlier.”

 

“He was? I didn’t notice,” Woojin said truthfully.

 

“Well, he was, and Minho’s fixing it,” Seungmin responded, scanning the final page of his book and snapping it shut. In the corner, Hyunjin chuckled and patted Minho on the head, then returned to the group. Minho followed shortly thereafter.

 

“We’re all good,” Hyunjin declared, settling with his head in Felix’s lap and legs overlapping Seungmin’s. Minho simply sat down cross legged, and jumped when Jeongin leaned on him.

 

“Well, if that’s settled… what do we want to do?” Felix asked, looking around the apartment. There wasn’t much inside- the wood-paneled walls only held a poster or two, the couch was the main feature of the living room. There wasn’t even a TV.

 

“Well, we could just talk, or play a game,” Jeongin suggested.

 

“What about trivia about ourselves?” Suggested Seungmin. Minho and Hyunjin shared a worried glance.

 

“I already know everything about you and Woojin,” Jeongin lamented.

 

“No you don’t,” Seungmin shot back. “Did you know I had to go to the hospital for eating my aunt’s plant fertilizer once?”

 

“You’re kidding,” Minho deadpanned.

 

“Nope,” Seungmin said. “Turns out the overlapping part of the Venn diagram of ‘things that are good for plants and humans’ only includes sunlight and water.”

 

“Well, once I went to the hospital for eating an entire watermelon,” Felix said. “Turns out I’m allergic to watermelon.”

 

Woojin winced in sympathy. “That sucks. Watermelon is good.”

 

They joked around for a while, sharing stupid stories about their childhoods and odd facts about themselves, until Minho asked a more serious question.

 

“So, what about your families?”

 

Jeongin, Felix and Woojin smiled, while Seungmin and Hyunjin looked down.

 

“Well, as you guys have probably figured out already, I live with my aunt,” Seungmin began. “I haven’t always. I lived with my parents up until about two years ago, and she just lived on the other side of town. My parents didn’t have the best of relationships, you see. They argued over things like finances and how to raise me, and then one night my dad went home with some tourist. That was the last straw for my mom. They separated and fought over me some more, but I didn’t feel comfortable with either of them. So, I went to live with my aunt. Things have been better since then. I still talk to both of them- my dad a little less- but I’m happy where I am, you know?”

 

Woojin squeezed his arm. He had told the story in a monotone, sounding separated from this history of his.

 

“That sucks,” Minho said, “but I’m glad to hear you’re doing better now that you’re living with your aunt. I think sometimes society forces this idea of the ‘perfect family’ to be two parents and their kids, and maybe a dog. In my mind, there is no ‘perfect family’, just a healthy one. It sounds like you made one for yourself.”

 

Seungmin nodded.

 

Jeongin, Woojin, Felix and Minho went in quick succession; they had all had good, healthy families (Minho’s parents had split and remarried, but he had been too young to remember) and scores of fond memories.

 

Hyunjin sat up and sighed. “I’m hesitant to tell about mine.”

 

“You don’t have to,” Felix said quickly. 

 

“I want to,” Hyunjin said. “It would make some things about the way I behave make more sense. It’s just.. hard to tell.”

 

If he hadn’t had the full attention of his audience, he had it now.

 

“I won’t sugarcoat it. I had a tough childhood. I was the only child in a big, empty house. Neither of my parents worked— my mom came from a rich family, and my dad never saw fit to get a job. This didn’t mean I saw them often. My dad was always out at some bar, and my mom was always off traveling or gambling or something. My parents didn’t believe in the public schooling system, so I took classes online, but they didn’t allow social media or anything like that. This means I was always alone. Even when my parents were home…” he shuddered and rubbed his cheek almost instinctively. “Let’s just say I preferred it when they were gone. I had no friends, and our family never deigned to visit. And even though we lived in a populous neighborhood, none of the other kids would play with me, because their parents didn’t want my family to provide a bad influence.

 

“Anyways, my grandparents decided they didn’t like the direction in which my parents were going, so they cut off the funding. My mom and dad didn’t care. They still had a lot of money in the bank account, anyways. But their habits were expensive— eventually they had to start selling things to be able to maintain their lifestyle, and so soon the house was even emptier than it had been before. When I was about eleven, they had to sell the house, and we moved into this ramshackle thing in a trailer park. This was... a big change for me, but it was even worse for my parents. My dad… he went out to drink even more, and when he came home he… he would…” 

 

Hyunjin cowered, wrapping his arms around himself. Felix put his hand on Hyunjin’s thigh, and that seemed to be comforting enough for him to continue.

 

“It’d s-start off with him just shouting. At me, at my mom, at our neighbors. Once he got riled up, though, shouting wasn’t enough. He’d throw things at me, he’d b-beat me until I could barely c-crawl to my room, and then he would p-pound on the door and scream about how I was too expensive, how I was the reason he lost the house, how having me had been a m-mistake.”

 

Seungmin hesitantly reached for Hyunjin’s hand. Hyunjin clung to that like it was the only thing keeping him connected to reality. Perhaps it was.

 

“My m-mother was even more absent than she had been before, because she preferred I take the beatings over her. One day she left and just never came back. So I lived like that for four years, until the day my dad pulled a gun on me. He never shot it, but I packed up everything I owned and left that night, while he was passed out drunk. I found a job serving food at a local university and lived in a shady motel. That’s where I met Minho and Felix.

 

“Neither of them were actually attending university, by the way. They took a dance class there, and sometimes came by the cafeteria for lunch. Anyways, we started talking and eventually they became my first friends. They helped me get back on my feet. I stopped wasting money on the motel and lived with Minho, and eventually Felix. I took night classes and eventually saved up enough money to begin college. To say I owe my life to them… that wouldn’t be too far off.

 

“Anyways, we started the show shortly after I moved in with Minho. And that’s also why I’m so clingy- yes, I’m aware of it- and why I get disproportionately upset when someone yells at me. Sooo… yeah.”

 

He fumbled with Seungmin’s hand, which was still squeezed tightly around his own. His tears had dried shortly after relieving the episode with his father, but his hands were shaky and weak.

 

“I can see how you’ve changed,” Jeongin said quietly. “Over the course of the show. It’s visible. You were awkward and reserved at the beginning, and by the most recent episodes you were cracking stupid jokes and dancing on old pentagrams drawn in people’s basements. I think meeting Felix and Minho did you good.” He looked up and twisted to meet Hyunjin’s eyes. “I hope we can help you, too.”

 

Minho slammed his fist on the ground, making everyone jump. His eyes were dark and steely and clouded with rage. “I’m gonna find him,” he spat. “I’m gonna find that bastard and—“

 

“I tried,” Hyunjin sighed. “A few years later. I built up the resolve and went back. The trailer was abandoned. I have no idea where he is.”

 

“I hope he drank himself to the grave,” Felix muttered, tears silently streaming down his cheeks. “I’m glad you told us the whole story, Hyunjin. All we knew was that you ran away from home. I knew that your reasons must’ve been good, but this… this is…” he trailed off, inhaling shakily. “Now that we know, we can be better. We can help you.”

 

Hyunjin’s eyes grew watery, and he squeezed them shut. One tear managed to find its way out and it trickled down to his chin. “Thanks. I love you guys. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to show you how much you mean to me.”

 

“Listen, Jeongin, Seungmin and I may not know you very well,” Woojin said, “And only Seungmin can even begin to relate to what you went through. But we love you for who you are, Hyunjin. Even if you’re a little broken. Even if it takes time for you to get better.”

 

“I’d do anything for you,” Seungmin said quietly, looping an arm around Hyunjin’s waist.

 

They sat there quietly for a little while, until Hyunjin laughed shakily.

 

“Look at me, ruining the mood,” he said. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean for it to get so heavy, I don’t know what got into me. Usually I can keep it under wraps.”

 

“I’m gonna have to stop that right there,” Woojin said, handing Hyunjin a handful of m&m’s. Felix eyed them nervously. “We don’t care if the mood sunk, we care for your health. Keeping all those emotions locked away isn’t good for anyone, let alone a naturally kind and sensitive person like you. Acknowledging it is the first step to healing.”

 

“Sure, but how about we change the subject anyways,” Hyunjin suggested. “Woojin, if you could go to college, what would you study?”

 

Woojin narrowed his eyes at Hyunjin’s abrupt and inelegant topic shift, but brushed it off anyways. “I think I would like to be a teacher. Preferably elementary school.”

 

The conversation picked up and people (including Hyunjin) started smiling again, but Woojin didn’t miss how Seungmin and Hyunjin’s hands remained intertwined for the remainder of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in other words.... being my bias means you get more pain than everyone else. sorry, hyunjin and seungmin.
> 
> i guess it's time to list my inspiration for this fic! it's mostly based on buzzfeed unsolved and a podcast called king falls AM, but theres also elements of gravity falls and the book series the raven cycle. if u havent tried out any of those four pls do, they're some of my absolute favorites and have fairly similar vibes to gw!!
> 
> also EXAMS ARE OVER so we should be back to regular weekend-ish updates!! love u guys


	9. Olivia Hye is a Sim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy pride month y’all

“Jeongin. Jeongin, wake up, we have a problem.”

 

Jeongin groaned a bit and rolled over, but shot up the moment his brain processed Woojin’s words.

 

“Wha’ happen?” He muttered groggily, frowning at the expression on Woojin’s face. Outside, it was still dark; the clock in the microwave read 2:18. They’d barely been asleep for an hour.

 

“It’s Hyunjin and Heejin,” Woojin said. Behind him everyone else was already awake, quietly talking amongst themselves.

 

“Hyunjin and Heejin? Are they ok?” Jeongin scrambled out from under the pile of blankets, panic rising with every moment.

 

“Calm down, they’re fine for now. If you recall, they left town the other day to go camping,” Woojin said, referring to one of their constant trips outside the town’s boundaries to avoid the sixth moon curse. “They woke up about five minutes ago lying in the middle of the road several miles outside of town and from their campsite and with something watching them from inside the forest. We need to go pick them up and make sure they’re ok.”

 

Jeongin’s panic began to disperse, only to come back in full force when Woojin casually mentioned that something was watching their friends. His eyes widened to almost comic proportions, and very quickly he was hopping at the door, shoes barely on his feet, urging everyone else to move quicker.

 

“There’s absolutely no way we’ll all fit in my car,” Woojin cried, counting six (and, in the near future, 8) people he would have to fit into his slightly-larger-than-average-but-still-too-small-for-8-people car.

 

“We’ll figure it out,” Felix said, shrugging on his jacket and checking the battery on his phone. “It’s best that we all go. ‘Divide and conquer’ isn’t really an option this late in the game.”

 

Woojin grudgingly acquiesced, but counted on his fingers as he locked the door and they all trooped out to his car, which was parked on the road in front of his apartment.

 

By the time they had all piled in, there were four people squeezed into the backseat, Minho sitting shotgun. Woojin wasted no time— he made such a quick loop of the cul-de-sac that he nearly spun a donut, and then they were careening into the night.

 

As they sped through town, Woojin’s headlights being the only illumination for miles, Jeongin turned away from the windows. He had no desire to search for what he knew was out there- ghastly, disfigured beings, both dead and alive, long limbed and skeletal, their full attention turned towards the only active life forms within their sights.

 

_ He would never forget the first time he encountered a creature of the night; he had been seven, entirely too young to have been given “the talk”— not the puberty one, but the ‘there’s something dreadfully wrong with our town and it may end up killing you someday’ talk. It was late in the evening, and he had left the house with nothing but a flashlight to search for the family cat, who had escaped sometime that evening.  _

 

_ The cat, of course, always loved to scamper off into the forest behind his house. This wasn’t generally a problem because usually she ran off during the daytime, and they were able to find her before nightfall. _

 

_ Tonight she had run off much later, and Jeongin chose to find her himself. His parents were always telling him that somebody had to be with him when he went to look for the cat, especially if she was in the woods, but tonight he was gonna prove to them that he was old enough to find her himself. He donned his special red jacket, grabbed the flashlight that was always on the table by the door, and left, shutting the door behind him quietly as to avoid alerting his parents of his exit. _

 

_ Navigating his way through the maze of roots and brambles, Jeongin found his way deeper and deeper into the trees. The forest was scarier at night, he realized; every sound seemed somehow louder than it was in the day, and the shadows created by his flashlight were deep and long and impenetrable.  _

 

_ Despite his fear, he called for the cat every few feet, clicking his tongue and making little kissy noises like his parents had shown him. There was no response, at least not for about ten minutes. _

 

_ Crossing over a bridge he played on every chance he could, Jeongin heard cries emerging from a small gathering of trees about a hundred feet off. At first, he nearly disregarded the sound; these weak whispers of a meow were a far cry from their cats’ usual tone. After standing in the middle of the bridge for a few seconds, he decided to investigate the sound anyways. She was known for picking fights (she wasn’t a very nice cat), and so it was possible she was injured. _

 

_ Jeongin’s confusion grew as he moved closer to where he knew she should be— her cries grew fainter and fainter as he approached, vanishing completely by the time he reached the trees. _

 

_ However, the moment he saw her, he understood why. _

 

_ There was no ‘cat’ there, just a pile of small, delicate bones. Perched precariously on top was her collar, black with skulls and crossbones. Never had the ironically bought design been more fitting. Repulsed, Jeongin jumped back, instinctively covering his nose with his sleeve; but when he realized the bones had been picked clean, he removed it. He stood there for a few minutes, too horrified to do anything but exist. There was almost a disconnect, when there was nothing left but bones— it seemed unreal. _

 

_ Later, Jeongin realized he had gone into shock. _

 

_ He took one step back, then another, but on the third step he hit something solid. It was coarse and cold; Jeongin turned around, assuming it to be a tree, but fell back in terror when he realized he had bumped into… something else. _

 

_ He could no longer remember quite how the nightmare had looked; all he could recall was the cursed, otherworldly energy that rolled off the creature in waves and the glitchy quality of its form. _

 

_ Curled around its shoulder was the spirit of his cat. _

 

_ They regarded each other for a few seconds, Jeongin too scared to move, the nightmare almost entranced by the small creature in front of it, heartbeat as fast and light as a bird’s. When Jeongin felt a sudden burst of adrenaline, he shot past the creature and flew back home, slamming the door shut behind him. The nightmare did not move from its spot, simply turning its head to follow his escape. _

 

_ It had taken Jeongin a while to recount the experience. How does one tell their parents the cat died and became best friends with a nightmare?  _

 

_ As it turns out, his parents were less concerned about the cat and more concerned about Jeongin’s safety. They weren’t angry, no- Jeongin’s parents never got angry- but they reluctantly told him of the strangeness of the town, the reasons why he couldn’t go out at night alone until he was older, and finally, of the curse. _

 

_ This was a lot to take in as a seven year old, but it also meant that Jeongin was aware of the supernatural happenings much earlier than his classmates. By the time Seungmin learned the same truths, Jeongin had had more than enough time to adjust his thinking to allow for the disproportionate amount of ghost sightings and devil hauntings and whatnot. _

 

_ The strangest thing about this experience? Jeongin still saw the nightmare occasionally. Not too often; in the past ten years, he had only seen it an additional four times. Each encounter followed the same routine: Jeongin and the nightmare stared at each other, then Jeongin went on his way. Not once did the nightmare attempt to make contact. _

 

“Look, Woojin! There they are!”

 

Jeongin was broken out of his contemplation by Minho’s sudden exclamation. Leaning over Woojin’s shoulder, Jeongin spotted Heejin and Hyunjin huddled together at the side of the road, facing the forest with matching grim expressions. Even as the boys piled out of the car, they never turned their attention away from the trees.

 

“Are you guys ok? Tell me you aren’t possessed,” Seungmin said, nervously eyeing the dark forest around them.

 

“We’re fine,” Heejin said, “but we may not be, if we look away from whatever’s in there.”

 

The six boys huddled behind Heejin and Hyunjin and peered into the forest. They saw nothing. However, Minho exhaled shakily and grabbed Felix’s shoulder.

 

“We know her,” he said.

 

“Her?” Whispered Woojin hoarsely.

 

Minho left the group and walked right up to the tree line. Holding out his hand, he said, “if you can hear me, we’re here to help.”

 

A pale hand emerged from the darkness, hesitant at first, then lightly taking Minho’s. A girl gingerly stepped onto the road.

 

Within the group, Heejin gripped her girlfriend’s hand tightly. She knew who that was.

 

Minho said, “Welcome, Olivia Hye.”

 

————-

 

“Hey, Yves, if you would pick up the phone like  _ right now,  _ we’ve got a situation here,” Felix said to the answering machine for the fifth time. No one in YYXY was answering their phones. This was very bad.

 

During the ride back to Woojin’s apartment, Minho had explained to the local hooligans the story behind YYXY’s disappearance, and Olivia’s strange state of being. This had inspired Felix to tell select details from his late night conversation with Changbin, which had Minho cursing and Woojin chuckling (although, Felix had no idea why. What did Woojin know that they didn’t?). Heejin had dryly commented that this information- about YYXY, about the three witches in the Circle- would have been very useful to have known sooner.

 

One thing Felix didn’t have the courage to disclose yet? The absurdity of the town’s safety. That the demon could come any day, but for whatever reason chose to stick to a schedule.

 

Now, they all sat in Woojin’s living room, the blankets shoved into the corner and snack bowls set on top. It seemed ridiculous, to deal with something like this while snuggling into a pillow and sticking bugles onto fingers.

 

“But how did Olivia get here?” Seungmin said, scratching his neck habitually. He was currently on Guard The Possibly Dangerous Vegetative Girl duty, which mostly consisted of staring at her and holding a butter knife.

 

“I think the better question is,  _ why  _ is Olivia here. The  _ how,  _ while intriguing, explains nothing about her appearance,” Woojin said, glancing at the manniquin-like girl who was currently facing the wall. It was very creepy.

 

“Woojin’s got the right idea,” Minho said pensively. “I believe she’s here to see those witches in the Circle. What do you think, Felix?”

 

Felix traced a pattern in the carpet. “That sounds about right. The spirit, Ch-“

 

Woojin covered Felix’s mouth, glancing around conspiratorially. “Don’t say their name. You never know who might be watching.”

 

Felix looked at Woojin, exasperated. “Right. My… source said the witches may be able to reverse the effect their spell had on Olivia. I-“

 

Felix’s phone went off, making everybody jump. Felix’s eyes widened at the name on the display.

 

“I gotta take this,” he said, not even giving anyone the chance to talk before accepting the call.

 

_ “Felix, this’d better be good,”  _ Yves said. She sounded panicked.  _ “Olivia’s gone missing and we’ve been searching for hours.” _

 

“Yeah, uh, about that,” Felix said, glancing at the nearly comatose girl who had inched closer to the fridge. “She’s right here.”

 

There was a thump (which translated quite painfully over the receiver), and when Yves spoke again, she sounded much more focused.  _ “You’ve got Olivia? But- how, why? When-“ _

 

“Who, what, where,” Felix quipped. “I don’t know. She just showed up and scared the life out of two of my friends. Right now she’s trying to walk through the refrigerator.”

 

Which she was. She was mindlessly pushing forward against the closed door, unblinking. 

 

_ “Well, we’re- come here, Chuu, Gowon, stop crying, we found her- we’re still in the city, so it may take a few hours to get to where you’re at. Think you can handle her for that long?” _

 

Felix glanced at Olivia, who had turned around and was looking blankly at Seungmin, who had broken into a nervous sweat. Hyunjin scrambled up and went to stand next to Seungmin. They both stared at her, wide-eyed and open-mouthed like fish, until she turned and began trying to walk through the oven.

 

“Yeah, we should be fine,” Felix said. He hoped Yves didn’t hear Seungmin and Hyunjin’s twin sigh of relief. 

 

_ ————- _

 

Five hours had passed since Yves promised YYXY’s long-awaited return to the town. Nobody had slept a minute since then, despite their exhaustion; they were much too wary of Olivia, who continually bounced aimlessly around the kitchen like a windows screensaver. 

 

Heejin and Hyunjin, despite Woojin’s offer to take them home, had decided to stick around. They were much too curious about the situation to leave (although, this made things a bit more confusing— when “Hyunjin!” was called, two people answered).

 

Seungmin, Jeongin, and the 3H boys sat tensely in the living room, speaking softly. They had no clue what may or may not cause Olivia to erupt into catastrophic motion, as she had that one night with Gowon, and so they played it safe and stayed nearly silent. Occasionally one of them would nervously glance at her from the corner of their eye to make sure she wasn’t doing anything  _ too  _ alarming, like leaving the kitchen or trying to grab something. So far she had nearly entered the living room twice (causing a mass panic of boys squeaking and jumping behind the couch), but turned around both times before she actually stepped onto the carpet.

 

Woojin had stayed with them most of the time, but currently was camped out in his bedroom doing who knows what. Sometimes they heard his voice, muffled by the shut door. Once Jeongin could’ve sworn he heard knocking on the wall— although why Woojin would do that, he had no idea. 

 

Minho’s phone vibrated once, indicating a text message. At the same time, a pair of headlights swung around the cul-de-sac.

 

“They’re here,” he said. In the kitchen, Olivia dimly swung her head in the direction of the front door.

 

Woojin emerged from the bedroom. “It’s about time,” he said, checking the time on his phone. “I can’t wait to get this problem taken care of so I can  _ sleep.” _

 

Felix and Hyunjin got up and left through the front door, presumably to greet Yves, Gowon, and Chuu as they walked up the sidewalk. Minho stayed where he was, frowning at a bottle of painkillers he had set on the ground in front of him.

 

“Hey guys,” said Chuu as they toed off their shoes in the entryway. “Has Olivia done anything bad?”

 

“Nah, she’s just in the kitchen,” Felix responded, gesturing to the girl who stood by the fridge, staring blankly at the three other girls.

 

“I don’t know,” said Seungmin, walking up and handing YYXY a few bananas. “She’s pretty creepy. Also, here’s some breakfast.”

 

“Thanks,” said Gowon, holding the banana gingerly. “I promise she’s quite normal when she’s not… like this.”

 

They all grimaced, and then made a mass movement to the front room. Seungmin found himself back on watch-Olivia duty, about which he was less than thrilled.

 

Yves hadn’t changed much in their year of silence; she was tall and lithe, dark auburn hair falling over her shoulders down to her waist. (Jeongin, who had never seen a YYXY video, thought she looked oddly similar to Yongguk’s mother, Sunmi. Strange.)

 

Gowon had had silvery blonde hair in their last video (oh, how it hurt to see the ‘one year ago’ timestamp), but she now had midnight black hair, stick straight until it curled a little at the tips. Her gentle features seemed as though they had been taken straight from a vintage 20’s advertisement.

 

Chuu had kept her chestnut color through the hiatus. Her bangs had grown out, though, giving her a more mature look. That all disappeared the moment she did Anything, though; clearly, she was the energetic member of the group. If she didn’t smile, she would probably stop existing, or something along that line. 

 

“Hi, Minho,” Yves said, sitting down next to said Minho. He grunted, not deigning to look at her.

 

“Minho, don’t be such a grump,” Woojin said, kneeling down next to Yves. “I’m Woojin.”

 

“Yves,” she responded. “And this is Chuu and Gowon.”

 

“That’s Jeongin and Seungmin,” Woojin said, pointing at the two boys, who nodded and waved. “And that’s Heejin and Hyunjin,” he continued, gesturing to the duo that had just emerged from the guest room. They, at least, seemed well rested. Much more so than the other ten.

 

They both stopped in their tracks when they saw the members of YYXY.

 

“I,” Heejin started, but stopped immediately after. She blushed and looked sheepishly at Hyunjin, who sighed.

 

“Nice to meet you,” she said. “We’re big fans. Of the show.”

 

“Ah,” Chuu said. “Sorry to keep you waiting. This hiatus has been… longer than expected.”

 

“Perfectly understandable,” Heejin said, finally having found her voice. She led Hyunjin to the ever-growing circle of people in Woojin’s living room.

 

Now that the group was complete, it was business time. Yves turned to Felix.

 

“So, you say that if we go back to that cursed village in the mountains, we can fix Olivia?”

 

“Yeah,” he said.

 

“And how did you figure this out?”

 

“I have my sources.”

 

“And your sources are…”

 

Felix balked. He wasn’t sure he was ready to reveal the conversation, especially since Woojin had stopped him once already. He knew YYXY was much more inquisitive than his own friends, and that with them, he would have to recount  _ everything  _ Changbin had said— including the chilling parts he hadn’t even told his own friends.

 

“Yves,” Minho said peevishly, “that’s enough. You know us well enough to know we’d only tell the truth.”

 

Yves glanced at Minho, surprised at his grumpy interjection. He held her gaze for a few seconds, glowering, and then looked away.

 

“Well,” she said, looking apologetically at Felix and then slowly continuing, “there’s no day like today. We’re gonna fix Olivia right now.”

 

Gowon perked up at that.

 

Seungmin, leaning against the wall, asked, “would you like us to come with you? You know, a safety in numbers kinda thing.”

 

Yves thought about that, but Chuu beat her to the answer. “Of course we want your help! Traveling with a real-life Sim is harder than you think.”

 

Everyone turned to Olivia, who had stopped wandering and now just stared at the corner. They couldn’t see her chest rise and fall— was she even breathing? 

 

“I can imagine,” Jeongin said. 

 

Chuu clapped her hands and stood, helping her teammates up as well. “We’d better get moving, then! This sunlight won’t last forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok do u guys know that one Tom & jerry ep where a spaceship crash lands and this goo comes out and shape shifts into the characters and beats up Tom for no real reason???? And just stands there and stares rlly creepily?? That’s Olivia 
> 
> Also I’m not a big fan of how this chapter turned out hgjkdfshjhh so i may end up coming back to it later but we’ll see smh
> 
> Finally i changed my @ on twt!! I finally have a kpop @ how exciting.... its @ autumnjjong now bc I’m a big shawol lmao 
> 
> See you guys next week! (Hopefully)


	10. Olivia Hye is a Gamer Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I read the first 8 chapters of Maggie Stiefvater’s new book and she’s a major inspiration for this story so if it seems more descriptive than usual that’s why

It was absolutely unpleasant outside, and unpleasant was the only truly accurate way to put it. “Uncomfortable” was another good word to describe the climate, and “suffocating” was even better. But anyway one looked at it, it was just downright  _ unpleasant.  _ The clouds hung dark and heavy, laying over the valley like a blanket. There was no scent of impending rain; instead the air smelled stale, as if it had been trapped in a rotting basement or cellar for decades. It was warm, too, but not the nice warm of summer; this air was oppressive, it pushed against your skin and forced its way into your lungs, whether you wanted it to or not. It sat still and heavy, like its chemical compound had replaced the oxygen with cotton. 

 

The humidity that would be expected from air of this quality was instead an itchy sensation, and if one were to observe the horde of odd people piling out of two small-ish cars like clowns at a circus, it would be impossible to find a moment in which somebody wasn’t scratching their arm, or forehead, or shoulder. 

 

If one had been looking closely, they would have observed that one of these people didn’t act like the others. Two, actually.

 

“So, will she walk herself, or will we have to, you know…” Jeongin started, nodding towards Olivia, who remained as impassive as ever.

 

Minho swayed dangerously and stabilized himself against the car. His headache was back. He thought about the small bag of painkillers he had brought with him on this trip and wondered if it was too early to take another dose.

 

(It was. He had taken three pills, furtively, just half an hour ago.)

 

Hyunjin stretched, his long limbs aching from having been stuck in the middle seat. He leaned back, hands on his hips, trying to spot the mountain peaks within the clouds. Spoiler alert: he didn’t find any. Because he was standing in front of Seungmin, he didn’t see the younger boy watching him with a clear, honest expression.

 

“Man, it’s just as creepy as I remember,” Chuu commented, studying the plaque of information installed at the trailhead. The map that had been tacked onto the cracked and splintered wood was yellow and incredibly delicate, as if it had been on the board for three hundred years. Nobody dared to even breath on it; they all felt as though the slightest contact would send it crumbling into dust. 

 

Other things were scratched into the wood. One warned of the danger of wild, deadly animals commonly found in the mountains, another urged hikers to stay on the path while traveling through the Circle.

 

Nowhere did it mention a trio of witches living in a shabby church in an abandoned town.

 

“Alright, we’ve got all the basics,” Gowon said, stuffing various paranormal-hunting supplies back into a backpack. “If we run into a spirit, we should be able to dispel it. But if these witches aren’t as benevolent as your source says…” 

 

“It didn’t sound like they were ‘benevolent’, to be honest,” Felix said. “They’re more like a… chaotic neutral. Kind of a wild card.”

 

“And you couldn’t have mentioned this earlier?” Minho said shortly, crossing his arms.

 

“It didn’t seem like we would have been in danger,” Felix said sheepishly.

 

Minho huffed and began trudging up the trail. Everyone else followed, albeit with a little more hesitance. He had gone from quiet to prickly and dangerous within just a few minutes. But what had set him off? 

 

The sluggish, electric air seemed to push them back as they struggled up the trail. What had been a pleasant walk was now incredibly difficult, almost suspiciously so. Minho, despite the challenge, maintained a good distance ahead of everyone. Olivia also seemed to be doing well— although she simply shuffled forward at her normal sluggish pace. She showed no sign of struggle, although she did sometimes veer off course to the point where somebody (usually, a member of YYXY) turned her so she was walking straight again.

 

It took much longer than normal to arrive at the Circle— if the group could’ve seen it through the clouds, the sun was nearly directly above them.

 

The trees seemed to press in on the ghost town from every side, the shadows unusually stark and falling in impossible places given the lighting situation. The paneled siding of the buildings was warped, revealing glimpses into the interiors that nobody dared approach.

 

They cautiously approached the church, which towered over the hovels surrounding it. The bell tower leaned to the side, seemingly one gust of wind away from collapsing entirely. How the witches managed to feel secure enough to live inside was beyond the understanding of anybody present.

 

Yves knocked on the heavy wooden door, which rattled on its hinges. There was no response. A cold draft drifted through the cracks and blew the hair away from her face.

 

She turned halfway, sending everyone else a questioning look.

 

Then, Olivia approached the door.

 

Without a touch, it swung open, so wide it slammed against the wall and knocked dust out of the panels. Felix shook dirt out of his hair and peeked inside.

 

The interior of the church was dark and musty, the pews in a state of disarray and various items strewn around with abandon. Felix picked up a small statuette of a lamb, inspected it for a second, and stowed it in his pocket.

 

There was a large, wooden cross hanging on the back wall. It was the only object in the room that seemed to be lit by the sunlight entering from the doorway. Olivia (still mindlessly, but somehow with more purpose than anyone else in the room) ambled down the aisle up to the cross and, with no effort at all, turned it upside down.

 

The door slammed shut, plunging the church into the darkness. Protests of the people now trapped inside cut off abruptly when a single lit candle flared from the corner. 

 

“Olivia Hye, I see your body has returned to the Circle,” said a female voice. 

 

A woman stepped out from the shadows. She was tall and willowy, her hair falling in platinum waves down her back. Her porcelain features remained impassive as she observed every one of her visitors. One of her eyes held an odd gleam, and when she turned her head, it sent streaks of blue across her visitor’s vision.

 

“And you’ve brought others,” she added. “five other women, and six… no, eight men.”

 

Jeongin frowned and did a head count. Sure enough, there were six ladies- YYXY, Hyunjin, and Heejin, but he only counted six others, including himself.

 

“There are only twelve of us,” Minho said sullenly. He did not look as though he thought this trip had been a worthwhile venture.

 

“Incorrect, Lee Minho,” the woman said. She did not elaborate on that topic, although she did give him a pitying glance. Minho glowered at the floor.

 

“Miss witch,” Gowon said, appearing from where she had been hiding behind Woojin. “We were told you could help Olivia. Is that true?”

 

The woman smiled. Her eyes were warm and inviting. “Yes, that is true. Please, follow me.”

 

She turned and disappeared behind the pulpit. The candlelight grew faint, which left the humans no option but to hurry after her before the light left for good.

 

The backside of the pulpit was hollow. Although it may have been used in sermons in the past, it now served as a way to hide a set of rough-hewn stairs that disappeared deep into the earth. They began climbing down, hands brushing either side of the tunnel as they descended. Woojin and Hyunjin had to duck, to avoid hitting their heads on the surface of the pulpit. 

 

The stairs were incredibly narrow and small. Woojin’s wide shoulders brushed the walls; he glanced around uncomfortably. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck thirty (now thirty-five, now forty) feet below the surface of the earth.

 

“My name is Jinsoul,” said the witch. Her hair fluttered gently as she descended. Now that they were closer, they realized she was not holding a candle. Instead, a small ball of fire curled around her fingers. “The other two here are named Kim Lip and Choerry. We are the Odd Eye Circle.”

 

There was a flurry of wings, and an owl appeared from the darkness to settle on Jinsoul’s shoulder. It turned its head to watch the caravan of disgruntled travelers trailing behind Jinsoul. One eye flashed red.

 

“Jinsoooul,” called a voice from below. It sounded large and echoey; proof there was a cavern somewhere at the end of this hellish staircase. “Have they come yet?”

 

“You can ask them yourself,” Jinsoul announced. “The world’s saviors are here.”

 

“The world’s saviors,” Seungmin muttered. “That’s a bit much, and I don’t even know what we’re supposed to do yet.”

 

They emerged onto a landing (finally), and their eyes widened at the space surrounding them.

 

It was a large, open space, dotted with rock growths dripping with water. Some of the walls were smooth, and red brick peeked out at some points, creating an odd disparity between the raw stone of the earth and the tamed, orderly, human settlement. Some stalagmites had been flattened and covered with mismatched fabrics serving as tablecloths; some had been hollowed out and held liquids of all appearances and properties. 

 

A backpack hung on a spike hanging from the wall directly adjacent to the staircase. Jeongin’s eyebrows shot up at the backpack, and the appearance of a girl from behind a wall sent him reeling.

 

“Yerim?!” He exclaimed, shakily pointing at the bouncy, smiling girl who was casually clutching a massive, violently red moth in her right hand.

 

“Hi Jeongin! Hi Seungmin!” She said, waving cheerfully and stuffing the moth into a wiry cage hanging from the ceiling. “How’s the summer homework going?”

 

“I- uh…. no wonder you were so good at chemistry,” Seungmin said shakily. “S-so is this your hobby, or…”

 

“Oh, no,” she said seriously. “This is my work. School is my hobby.”

 

“Ah,” said Jeongin. It wasn’t that he understood; it’s more that he didn’t really have anything else to say.

 

“Yeah, every thirty years or so I go through high school again with a different name, just to stay up-to-date with what the human world is doing,” she continued, inspecting the rosy tips of her twilight hair. “Although, I suppose I could just do that with social media now.”

 

“So you voluntarily go to high school over and over again,” Heejin said suspiciously.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“You’re definitely not a real person,” Heejin declared. Yerim (no, Choerry) laughed.

 

“It’s less stressful than constantly working on saving the world,” she said lightly. “Classes are a breeze. Although, I’ve never understood why curriculum changes. Teaching each generation how to do math differently just results in a world where no one can do math.”

 

Hyunjin thought back to late nights spent with her parents struggling with geometry homework, her father complaining that ‘there can only be so many ways to figure out the angle x in a triangle’. She nodded unconsciously.

 

The owl on Jinsoul’s shoulder hooted. Choerry’s eyes shot over to the bird, her eye flashing purple.

 

“Yes, Lippie, I think now’s the time,” Jinsoul said. “If you wait any longer it’ll just be weird.”

 

In a blink, the owl was gone and in its place stood a young woman— presumably Kim Lip, the third witch. She was regal and poised, not a single hair out of place, not a single emotion escaping unless she wished it to.

 

“I’m Kim Lip,” she said.

 

Felix nodded fervently.

 

“Now, about Olivia,” Jinsoul said. “We’re terribly sorry about that. We stay here in the Circle because we rarely have visitors, and therefore can test new spells uninhibited. The one that hit her was somewhat of a failure.”

 

“Don’t sugarcoat it, Jinsoul,” Kim Lip said. She turned back towards their increasingly confused visitors. “The spell was a mess. We never should’ve tried it, whether it hit someone or not. Anyways, what happened was the spell separated Olivia’s spirit from her body. You’ve technically been caring for a living corpse for a year.”

 

Chuu winced.

 

“Olivia’s spirit has been here, with us. She’s quite useful, you know. She can go anywhere and communicate with things we can’t even see. It’s because of her we think we may have a stronger solution to holding back Inimicus this year.”

 

“Wait, she’s been here the  _ whole time? _ ” Gowon cried. “Where is she now?” 

 

“Somewhere around here,” Choerry said flippantly, peering around the caverns. “She may be busy. I bet she’ll come quickly when she realizes her body and friends have arrived.”

 

“This whole time we could’ve fixed her just by coming back,” Yves said shakily. Olivia’s body stood still. 

 

Choerry’s smile did not dim. Jinsoul and Kim Lip remained statuesque and formal.

 

“Well, while we wait for Olivia’s spirit to return, would you like a tour of our home? I know it doesn’t look like much, but it’s functional,” Kim Lip said, her question revealing her slight discomfort at YYXY’s distress.

 

“I don’t see why not,” Jeongin said. He, Woojin, Felix, and the Hyunjin-Heejin duo followed Choerry and Kim Lip as they led them around the cavern. Minho, Seungmin, YYXY, and Hyunjin (the Hwang one) remained right where they had emerged from the staircase. 

 

Half an hour passed, and nothing had changed. The group that had begun touring was still poking at glowing crystals and sniffing iridescent potions, YYXY continued glancing at shadows and praying for the appearance of their missing fourth member, and Hyunjin and Seungmin had sat down and were quietly pretending to read each other’s palms. Jinsoul had offered to do it for real once, but their panicked glances had her backing away with a polite smile.

 

Instead, she was approached by Minho.

 

“You said there were two more people with us than there actually are,” he said tersely. “Why?”

 

Jinsoul looked at him for a good moment, scrutinizing his face and posture. He did not look well; his eyes were cloudy and red, his skin pale and sweaty. His clothes were rumpled and hung off his frame in a way that she instinctively knew wasn’t normal. Worst of all, his features seemed to be constantly twisted into masks of pain or disgust- sometimes both. 

 

“You already know one,” she said. “He seems to have taken a liking to Felix. The other… I cannot solve your problem for you.”

 

Minho scowled at nothing in particular.

 

She peered over his shoulder, and did not like what she saw.

 

Reconsidering her decision to stay silent about Minho’s issue, she opened her mouth to speak, when Chuu cried out.

 

“I see her! I see- Olivia! Over here! Over here!”

 

Everybody turned to see a wisp of silvery energy spiral its way into the cavern from a distant opening and slam into Olivia’s body. Gowon barely managed to catch her, and the impact propelled them both into a defenseless coffee table with an ear splitting crash. Jinsoul scrambled to catch a Tupperware of incredibly small magpies.

 

Yves spluttered and waved away the dust. “Olivia? Gowon? Please tell me you’re alright.”

 

There was a racket of clattering wood as Gowon pushed herself up. Olivia lay there, still and silent.

 

Everybody visibly deflated.

 

Then, Olivia coughed. Once. Twice. And then she was sitting up, back supported by an incredulous Gowon.

 

She tried to speak, but her voice was so raspy from misuse that it was nearly impossible to make out what she was saying. Choerry dashed for a glass of water and placed it in Gowon’s hands. She carefully tipped the glass, and Olivia drank greedily for a few seconds.

 

Olivia attempted to speak once again. This time, the words came out properly. 

 

“Did you guys at least bring my switch?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WASSUP YALL GUESS WHO GRADUATED
> 
> Anyways uhhhh hopefully that means I’ll be able to release things quicker??? Idk
> 
> I’m still working on a playlist for this fic!!! I’ll either throw it into these notes if I finish it soon or I’ll include it in the next update.
> 
> Thanks for the continued support!! Your comments and kudos mean everything to me, I can’t even begin to tell u 
> 
> See y’all soon!!


	11. Jeongin Gets the Scare of his Life

__

There was a beat of silence in which everybody simply blinked.

Then, “we didn’t bring it.” 

Olivia looked up at Yves, affronted. “Really? Do you even know me?”

“You’re gone for a year, and the first thing you mention is your switch,” Gowon said, pouting. “Did you even miss us?”

Olivia twisted in Gowon’s arms to look right at her. 

“Not too badly,” she said, attempting nonchalance. Her voice cracked.

Gowon’s eyes filled with tears.

And suddenly, all four of them were sobbing on the ground, clutching at each other’s sleeves and backs.

Seungmin and Hyunjin shared a glance. There was something unspoken in that look, something so deep and complicated that both boys turned away, too intimidated by the connection they found in each other’s gazes.

“We should let them catch up,” Kim Lip said, herding everyone away from the scene. 

“I’m glad they’re all back together,” Felix said, relieved. He felt as though a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he wasn’t even part of their team.

“As am I,” said Jinsoul. “Olivia was often quite nervous for the well-being of her friends. While they remained here in town, she was able to observe their situation. She was present, though helpless, at the incident which sent Gowon to the hospital. And once they left…” she sighed. “She couldn’t see them anymore,so she never knew whether they were safe or not. I’ve never seen her show this much emotion.”

They looked back. The girls had stopped sobbing, although silent tears still trickled down their cheeks. Chuu had selected a chunk of Olivia’s hair and was weaving it into a loose braid as they talked.

“So, that mystery is solved,” Woojin said. “Now, to stop a literal demon.”

Choerry pursed her lips. “There isn’t much we can do to help you directly. We’re supposed to stay fairly neutral, you see. As the link between the living world and the liminal realm, we aren’t supposed to take sides, we can merely work to avoid catastrophe on either side.”

“The liminal realm?” Jeongin rolled a rock back and forth under his shoes.

“The dimension in which the supernatural reside. They aren’t part of your world, nor have they transitioned entirely to the next stage. Ghosts are the most obvious example of this— as I’m sure you’re aware, ghosts have the ability to choose how present they are in either world, although it’s impossible for them to manifest completely in either. Other beings who can access the liminal world are supernatural beings, witches, and psychics.”

Hyunjin looked at Minho. When it became clear Minho didn’t plan to add anything, Hyunjin took it upon himself. 

“Minho explained this to us once. Psychics, witches, people like that are anomalies in that they don’t completely clear the boundary between the liminal world and the physical, living world. At birth, the soul descends from the previous stage to earth. In order to reach the physical world, the soul must travel out of the spirit world, through the liminal realm, and enter our world. Think of each border as a spiderweb. Psychics travel straight through, but some of the cobwebs from the liminal world get stuck to them. This means that they have their own personal gateway to the liminal world, which manifests differently in every psychic.”

“Witches, on the other hand, take their time traveling through the dimensions,” Kim Lip added. “We’re naturally curious beings, so we stop and look around each world before continuing on to the next. It’s like lucid dreaming, manipulating your spirit so you can explore. We learn during our explorations, and by the time we finally make it to the physical world, our souls have been enlightened. This means you may have an infant who is completely aware of themselves in relation to the world and everything beyond.”

Seungmin grimaced. “Like an all-knowing being stuck in the body of a child.”

“Exactly,” Choerry said. “While our bodies grow and develop, our minds remain sharp and quick. Let me tell you, being stuck in a body that can’t walk gives you a good amount of time to puzzle through the mysteries of the human existence. Did you know that lightspeed can be attained by—“

Jinsoul clapped her hand over Choerry’s mouth. “I don’t think they’re quite ready for that. Did you just  _ lick me?!” _

As Jinsoul recovered from her harrowing experience, Choerry smirked and leaned against a stalactite. “Anyways, we’ve always been aware of our witch status. Unfortunately, there is a drawback to our curiosity. You see, the soul that travels to earth to be born isn’t an infant hurtling through space. It has an age, and whatever that manifests as, that’s the age at which we witches stop growing.”

“So…” Heejin prompted.

“So, that means my soul was eighteen, Kim Lip’s was twenty, and Jinsoul’s was twenty-two. I may look young, but I’ve been around for a while.”

Jeongin’s brow furrowed. “How long, exactly?”

Kim Lip hummed. “I was already pretty old when the Japanese invaded Korea.”

“Hah, I beat you,” Jinsoul scoffed. “I remember when humans discovered electricity. I’d been using it for decades already.”

“Both of you are  _ babies,”  _ Choerry said. “I aided King Sejong in the creation of Hangul in the 1400’s!”

As the witches argued, Jeongin turned to the other mortal souls who were standing in a state of mild shock.

“I think I’ll sit next to Choerry in physics this year,” he said.

“Not if I don’t sit there first,” Seungmin shot back.

That caught Hyunjin’s attention, and not in a good way. Hearing Jeongin and Seungmin argue about school reminded him that their time in this wonderful, terrible valley was limited. Whether or not they defeated the demon, by the time the beginning of the next school year rolled around, the ghost hunters would be gone— in another shooting location, or back in the city, or dead. 

He felt an oncoming wave of panic, but clamped it down. He was good at that. Instead, he decided to set cross-legged on the floor and resigned himself to stacking pebbles while everybody else conversed in small groups.

Unfortunately for Hyunjin, Seungmin had been looking at him at the time he had his realization and split-second breakdown. He excused himself from his conversation with Jeongin and Woojin and padded over to Hyunjin.

“Everything ok?” He asked, sitting down on a rock that had been formed into a misshapen chair. Haltingly, he raised his hand and started rubbing gentle circles on Hyunjin’s back. Hyunjin cursed him for being so perceptive.

“I- yeah, it’s fine. I was just thinking about what we’ll do if we finish the case.”

Seungmin paused a moment, dissecting the hidden meaning behind Hyunjin’s words, then switched from back rubs to methodically massaging Hyunjin’s shoulders.

“Well, you know- Hyunjin, you really need to  _ relax,  _ when was the last time you got a massage _ \-  _ there are these things called cell phones, and with these cell phones you can do things like text, and call, and even talk face to face. Besides, we aren’t really  _ that  _ far away from the city, and Woojin’s got a car.”

Hyunjin’s tense shoulders softened under Seungmin’s touch and reassurance. 

“And if we—“

“I’m not gonna even let you finish that thought. Hyunjin, the Odd Eye Circle said they may have a way to defeat Inimicus once and for all, and we’re a strong group of people. Every time we doubt ourselves, we give Inimicus that much more power. We’ll succeed.”

It sounded like Seungmin was trying to convince himself more than he was the other boy, but Hyunjin let it slide. He’d heard of self fulfilling prophecy, after all.

————-

“Back in a minute, guys,” Felix said. “I’m gonna see if I can find something resembling a restroom.”

__  
  


“Two caves that way, through the hole on the left,” Choerry said, not looking away from her conversation.

Felix nodded and headed in the direction she had pointed. Once he was out of earshot, he moved behind a wall and stopped.

“What’s up?” He asked. His shadow peeled off the wall and took Changbin’s form.

“I, uh,” Changbin started. He paused, considering what to say. Even though he was as physical as a ghost could get, he was small and faint. “I can’t tell you anything explicitly, but something bad is about to happen. And it’s not his fault.”

“Wait, Changbin,” Felix said, as Changbin turned back to the shadow. “What do you mean? Who? Wait! Don’t leave-“

But Changbin was gone, and Felix was nervous.

Shoving his hands in his pockets so the others wouldn’t see them shaking, Felix strolled back into the main cave. The group had shifted back to YYXY, and was discussing something in an unusually calm manner.

“Welcome back, Lix,” said Hyunjin. “We were just deciding what to do next.”

Felix tilted his head. “Like, in the long-term, or this afternoon, or what?”

Choerry looked at a sundial placed fairly close to them. There wasn’t any shadow from the sun, so it was essentially useless. “Well, at this point, you guys have about three hours to sundown. Do you think you could make it back safely by then? Being out in the forest at night is the last thing you want, even if you know you’re safe from us.”

Jeongin, for whatever reason, grimaced.

“Three hours is ample time, I think,” Woojin said. “Even if it somehow takes us that long to get to the car.”

“Not at this point,” Kim Lip warned. “The fact that you returned safely from retrieving Hyunjin, Heejin and Olivia from the highway last night is a miracle.”

If Felix’s hands had been shaky before, now they were downright trembling. They hadn’t even known the risk they were taking last night.

“So, if you don’t think you can make it back to your homes in three hours time, I’d suggest you stay here.”

“I don’t feel comfortable here,” Minho grumbled. “I would much rather be back at the hotel.”

“You trust us to be able to get back?” Yves said, astounded. “Olivia is quite weak right now.”

The Olivia in question was still sitting on the floor.

“Minho, I really think staying here would be for the best,” Hyunjin said. “We don’t want to risk it.”

Minho stalked up to Hyunjin. Even though he was shorter, he towered over the younger boy.

“I am the leader, am I not? We’re going back to the hotel.”

“Actually,” Woojin interjected, “We’re staying here. I’ve got the keys.”

He dangled them in front of Minho, who tried to snatch them away.

“I won’t say you made a good call, but good call,” Jinsoul said. “If you go to the right, there’s an extra space that isn’t being used for anything. You can sleep there. We have plenty of extra blankets, pillows, etc. so don’t hesitate to request more. The crystals growing from the ceiling can be dimmed, but not completely shut off.”

She listed off a few more things, but Felix was more interested in Minho, who seemed to be broiling with rage. His eyes were bright and dangerous, fists clenched and posture stiff. He wasn’t looking at anybody in particular, but he really didn’t have to— the aura he was exuding let anybody within a fifty foot radius know that he was  _ pissed.  _

Felix grimaced and slung his arm over Jeongin’s shoulders. “Hey, wanna get away from Minho and go anywhere else?”

Jeongin brightened up. “We don’t have time to get home, but they never said anything about exploring the circle!”

“You’re right,” Felix agreed. “Let’s go.”

They climbed back up the stairs, making no effort to conceal their exit. The light outside the church was blinding, despite the dark thunderclouds billowing overhead.

“How are the Odd Eye Circle not blind yet,” Felix marveled as they went around the back of the church.

“Dude, you don’t go to school with us so you wouldn’t know, but Choerry is blind as a  _ bat.  _ I bet she couldn’t even see your freckles when we were down there, since she wasn’t wearing her glasses.”

“That’s  _ so sad,”  _ Felix said. “Hyunjin says they’re my best feature.”

Circling around the church, they faced a small house-like establishment that looked marginally safer than the other structures in town.

“Wanna go inside?”

“There’s nothing saying not to.”

Felix pushed the door tentatively. The handle had fallen out long ago, so it took some jiggling to get it open. Inside, the floorboards were warped, the dirt of the ground peeking through the cracks. The windows were brown with dirt and age, casting the room in a warm glow. There were various objects and pieces of furniture strewn about, the most striking of these being a polished rocking chair lying on its side.

“I forgot about the show,” Felix exclaimed. “We gotta get some footage!”

He pulled out his phone and started filming, first pointing the camera at the more interesting bits of the house.

“This is Jeongin, a citizen of the nearby town. He was the first to approach us about their demon problem a little over a week ago.”

“It feels like that was forever ago, so much has happened,” Jeongin said. 

Felix nodded in agreement. “The curse has certainly been picking up the pace, and nowhere is that more obvious than here in the Circle. There is evidence that witchcraft is at play here, and the church especially has more supernatural activity than we’ve seen in quite some time.”

Felix didn’t bother to mention his sentient shadow.

“Minho and Hyunjin are busy right now, so Jeongin agreed to accompany me on an exploration of the Circle.”

“Excuse you,” Jeongin retorted. “This was my suggestion.”

“Right. Anyways, this is an example of one of the better preserved buildings within the Circle. The others are probably too dangerous to enter, so this is the only one we could explore the interior of without endangering ourselves.”

“Oh, Felix, look at this,” Jeongin said, pointing to something hidden behind the rocking chair. “It’s a little teddy bear, or something.”

Felix walked over to Jeongin, who had crouched down on the ground. And promptly scuttled away.

The ‘little teddy bear, or something’ was coated in grime and peculiar brown stains. It was missing both of its eyes, and in some spots, it was worn down to the threads. Felix questioned whether it was even a bear.

“Yeah, uh, some kid really liked this bear,” Jeongin said. “Oh look, its mouth opens.”

Jeongin opened its mouth. Inside were two rows of disturbingly human-like teeth. Jeongin squeaked and scrambled away, and the mouth snapped back shut.

“Are those- are those real?” Felix stammered from where he had hit the wall.

“I really don’t want to check again,” Jeongin said. “My hand feels gross. Let’s get out of here.”

Turning around, Jeongin made to follow Felix out of the house, but froze when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“You’re kidding,” he deadpanned.

Something breathed heavily  in his ear a couple times, puffing at his hair, and then it let him go.

“Outta here, outta here, outta here, outta here,” Jeongin cried, panicked, pushing Felix out into the light and slamming the door behind them.

“Dude, what was that? The bear was creepy but it was just a bear with teeth,” Felix said, holding the camera up to Jeongin’s face.

Jeongin pushed it down. “No, Felix, there was something in there. It  _ touched me.” _

Felix’s eyes widened in realization, and they both scrambled back into the church and down the stairs, to the safety of the witches den.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chan is back in time-out so have some jeonglix instead lmao


	12. The Crew Goes Camping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may as well come out as a seungjin stan at this point lmao

When he heard the sound of two sets of feet pounding down the stairs and hurried, panicked breath, Woojin prepared himself for the worst.

 

Felix and Jeongin bursted out of the stairwell, cheeks red and eyes wild. Woojin was the first to reach them.

 

“What happened? Are you guys ok? Why did you even go outside?!”

 

The two boys just stood there, hands on their knees, focused only on calming down.

 

At this point everybody else had gathered, forming a semicircle around Jeongin and Felix.

 

“We- guh- we wanted to explore the Circle,” Jeongin panted. “Bad idea.”

 

“I decided to shoot some found-footage kinda stuff for the show,” added Felix. “It was all fine until we found the bear.”

 

“A bear,” Seungmin repeated.

 

“It had- oh, I don’t even want to think about it- it had—“

 

“Show them the footage,” Jeongin suggested. 

 

“Oh, yeah,” Felix said, bringing up his phone, which he had been clenching in a vice-like grip.

 

The group gathered around the tiny screen, anxious as Felix started the video.

 

There was no sound in the caverns but the poor audio quality of the video, until-

 

“Why is the chair clean?”

 

Felix paused the video. “Sorry?”

 

“The rocking chair,” Chuu said. “Everything else in that room is covered in decades of dust, but the rocking chair is clean and polished.”

 

“Well, that’s not terrifying at all,” Seungmin muttered. Felix continued playing the video.

 

Then came the part with the bear. The snap of the teeth as its mouth closed was outperformed by twelve cries of surprise and disgust from the audience. Only Felix, Jeongin, and Minho said nothing, and Minho stood statuesque as even Felix and Jeongin flinched.

 

In the video, Felix directed the camera at Jeongin, who had gone completely still.

 

_ “You’re kidding,”  _ said video Jeongin.

 

“His shirt looks weird,” Hyunjin commented. “Like something is gripping the fabric on his shoulder.”

 

“Something  _ was  _ gripping my shoulder,” said Jeongin. 

 

Video Jeongin and Felix bolted from the house, and the footage ended there.

 

“So, Mr. Nonbeliever, what was that about something gripping Jeongin’s shoulde-” Seungmin said, turning to Hyunjin. He stopped when he saw the expression on the older boy’s face.

 

Hyunjin’s lips were working, but no sound came out. He gasped for air, for something to say. His face crumpled.

 

“I saw it,” he croaked. “There was a hand. On Jeongin’s shoulder. It came through the doorway of the back room.”

 

Everybody was silent as they processed two things: one, that they weren’t safe from malovent spirits even in the day.

 

And two: that Hyunjin, a firm disbeliever of anything supernatural or paranormal, had seen something none of the rest of them had spotted.

 

“What do we do,” Heejin whispered hoarsely, “now that we can’t go outside, even when the sun is up?”

 

Choerry paced back and forth, muttering and pulling at her ponytail. 

 

“A spell- no, too generalized, not strong enough- a charm? Ah, but what if it was misplaced, no, that won’t do…”

 

She stopped suddenly, snapping her fingers as her eyes lit up.

 

“I’ve got it! What y’all need is a sigil,” she suggested. “A temporary tattoo, of sorts.”

 

“But should we give them a protection sigil or a clarity sigil,” Kim Lip mused.

 

Heejin sat up straighter, soft dark eyes sparkling with interest. “What does each do?”

 

“The protection sigil would ward off evil spirits,” Jinsoul explained, “while the clarity sigil warns the user of impending danger through an intense feeling of dread.”

 

“The issue is that neither of them are fail-proof,” Choerry added. “The protection sigil can’t catch  _ everything,  _ especially if it doesn’t consider its intention to be harmful. The clarity sigil warns, but once the threat arrives it can do nothing to aid the user.”

 

“But why not use both,” Seungmin asked. Felix patted him on the back proudly.

 

“Because the sigil draws its power from your own energy,” Kim Lip said. “Just having one sigil will be exhausting enough. Two is out of the question.”

 

Jinsoul muttered something, but nobody could make out what she said.

 

“Well,” Choerry clapped twice, then started rummaging through some vials and beakers. “The ink should be here somewhere. It’s- Jinsoul, could you help me out here, I can’t see very well-“

 

Jinsoul held up a beaker half full of a furious, vividly colored liquid that gave everybody a headache just from looking at it. “This it?”

 

“No, the sigil ink is maroon, not endlic.”

 

Jinsoul set down the foreign liquid. Felix blinked a few times and tried to recall if he had ever seen that color before. (Spoiler: he hadn’t. Had they just witnessed a color that didn’t exist in the visual color spectrum? His head hurt.)

 

“Oh, here it is,” Kim Lip said, scooping up a large vial of a dark red liquid that clung to the sides of the glass as she shook it.

 

“Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do,” Woojin said, stepping in front to face his nervous friends. “If we can only have one sigil each, it may be a good idea to pair up with a person who has the opposite sigil. This way, one person can warn the other of the threat, and the other can activate the protection sigil accordingly.”

 

There were murmurs of agreement. People had already started to shift towards each other.

 

Seungmin watched as everyone paired up- Jeongin glued himself to Woojin’s side, Felix shook Minho a little to see if he was bored or just plain catatonic, Gowon linked arms with Olivia.

 

He felt himself get a little sad, which was ridiculous. There was an even number of people here, he would obviously partner up with  _ someone. _

 

That someone cleared his throat behind him.

 

“So. You gonna ask me, or am I gonna have to ask you, or…?”

 

Seungmin turned around to face Hyunjin. “That’s a stupid question. It’s like you wanna be friends or something.”

 

Hyunjin wrinkled his nose, eyes warm despite his lofty expression. “Uhh, no? I just want more back massages.”

 

“That’s it?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“You’re sure?”

 

“Back massages.”

 

“Great, you don’t even have anything to contribute,” Seungmin drawled, rolling his eyes so dramatically his head bobbed. “This relationship is gonna end before it even starts.”

 

“Bold of you to assume I even want a relationship-“

 

“Boys, enough flirting,” Jinsoul said wearily, shaking a brush in their direction. “You’re next.”

 

Hyunjin and Seungmin both spluttered into silence and obediently sat on the stone in front of her, too shocked to deny her ridiculous ‘flirting’ claim.

 

“So, one of you will receive clarity, and one of you will receive protection,” she said coolly. “Who wants which?”

 

“Uhhh..” the two boys shared an uncertain glance. “We didn’t talk about that.”

 

Jinsoul huffed. “Well, if you didn’t decide on anything, I already know which sigil will work better for both of you. Hyunjin, where do you want it?”

 

“O-oh, is my arm ok?” He pointed at his upper right arm, then pulled up the sleeve as Jinsoul gave affirmation.

 

She dipped the brush in the ink, which looked and behaved suspiciously like half congealed blood.

 

The protection sigil was circular in nature, looping around itself in dizzying swirls and crossroads, but ultimately connecting right where it had started. It was small and dense, yet welcoming. Hyunjin gaped as it sunk into his skin, leaving only a faint white outline of what had once been boldly red. 

 

“The protection sigil,” Jinsoul said, “works best when the user is confident and courageous. Those who wield it are kind, considerate, generous, loyal. It can be used both consciously and unconsciously. The conscious application is more powerful, but the mental fortitude and energy required to maintain it is staggering. And that is why,” she said, turning to Seungmin, “the clarity sigil is its counterpart, its foil. Those who wield the clarity symbol are curious and intrepid, guided by their strong morals and stronger personalities. The clarity sigil does not provide omnipotent knowledge, only that for which it is intended. In this case, you will gain the power of precognition. Your job will be to warn your partner of approaching threats and danger. However, you will not be able to discern the severity of the danger, nor the speed at which it is approaching. Keep that in mind.”

 

The clarity sigil took the form of an arrow traveling down from his elbow to the palm of his hand, the point extending to the tip of his middle finger. It was large and airy, reminiscent of epiphanies and dreams. It, too, sunk into Seungmin’s skin, leaving nothing but a white outline.

 

“Till death do you part, or however that saying goes,” Choerry joked as she walked past. Seungmin threw her a concerned glance— not one like  _ stop, you’re gonna blow my cover,  _ but one that was more  _ are you ok? Are you imagining things? Maybe you should put on your glasses.  _

 

“Ok, get off my bench, it’s Felix and Minho’s turn,” Jinsoul said, shooing them away.

 

“She’s cryptic one moment, then casual and modern the next,” Seungmin muttered to Hyunjin. 

 

“I wonder if it gives her whiplash,” Hyunjin muttered back, smirking.

 

They stopped in their tracks as a scream of pure torment tore through the heavily incensed air. They turned to find Minho bent at the waist, clutching his wrist close to his chest as pure light dripped from his forearm, only to hit the ground as ink.

 

“You did it wrong,” he gasped between heaving breaths. The others didn’t have to see his face to know it was twisted and ugly. “Are you  _ trying  _ to hurt me?!”

 

“I should have known this wouldn’t work,” Jinsoul said darkly. “Forget the protection sigil, it can do nothing for you. You’re switching with Felix. Give me your arm.”

 

“No!” Minho swung away from Jinsoul, cradling his dripping arm like it was his lifeline. “Stay away from me, hag!”

 

And then, Kim Lip and Choerry were there, holding Minho down by the shoulders and thrusting his arm out in front of Jinsoul.

 

Jinsoul was not mad, nor was she shocked. Instead, her expression held deep, deep sorrow, her eyes swimming with apologies and untold answers. 

 

“I can’t help you, not in the way you need me to,” she said, voice cracking. “Please, just let me try. Let me do  _ something. _ ”

 

Minho quivered with rage. It spilled from his tense shoulders, it curled around his feet and seeped into the cracks in the walls.

 

Seungmin got a very, very bad feeling. The arrow on his arm flared once. 

 

He stepped back as the rage lapped at his feet, pulling Hyunjin with him.

 

Hyunjin, who couldn’t see the rage but instinctively knew Seungmin was acting with reason, decided to activate his own sigil. 

 

The result was not visible, nor was it tangible, but it was felt by every person in the room. Minho’s rage swiftly retreated back into its concentrated form, bubbling underneath his skin and tumbling through his veins.

 

“If you mess it up again, I’ll kill you,” he growled through gritted teeth.

 

Jinsoul’s eyebrows furrowed, but she accepted the prickly olive branch. This time, she drew the clarity sigil down his spine.

 

The rest of the process continued on without a hitch, aside from Jeongin jerking his hand as the brush tickled his palm. Within the hour, every human in the cavern sported a design that was reminiscent of an old, faded scar.

 

“Now that you have these, it is vital that you be with someone of the opposite sigil at all times,” Kim Lip said. “Preferably your chosen partner, but anyone will work.”

 

“Does this make me straight?” Olivia whispered to Gowon.

 

“Not even close,” she replied.

 

“These sigils perform best when their users are a cohesive team,” Jinsoul added. “So make sure you can  _ trust one another.” _

 

She looked at nobody in particular, and her tone implied that this was nothing more than general advice, but Seungmin still felt a chill shoot through his body.

 

“Now, I’m not about to assume anything,” Choerry said, “but I get the feeling this is going to be the last truly good night’s sleep you’re gonna get for a while. I would suggest getting as much rest as possible while you’re under our watch.”

 

“I thought you were supposed to be neutral,” Yves teased.

 

“Honestly? With the power imbalance between the human world and Inimicus, we could literally try to kill him and still be neutral,” Jinsoul said, shrugging. “Us giving you some basic protection and a place to sleep is barely a drop in the bucket.”

 

“Ha ha, that’s encouraging,” Felix said flatly. “I call dibs on the fluffiest comforter.”

 

———

 

“Are you sure you’re alright, Minho?” Woojin asked, crouching down next to the boy in question. “You’ve been acting somewhat odd these past few days.”

 

“Piss off,” Minho said, pushing Woojin’s face away with icy fingers. “It’s none of your business.”

 

Woojin stepped away and joined Seungmin and Jeongin, casting glances behind him. 

 

“Minho is most definitely not alright,” he said, as Minho popped a concerning number of pills into his mouth and swallowed them dry.

 

“Yeah,” Jeongin deadpanned. “No duh.”

 

Seungmin hummed thoughtfully. “This is improbable, but maybe Minho is generally a pretty grumpy guy. Celebrities are very good at putting on facades, after all.”

 

“But if Minho is naturally this nasty, why do Felix and Hyunjin hang out with him? They’re really nice,” Jeongin argued.

 

“We hang out with you, don’t we?”

 

“WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?!”

 

Seungmin glanced around casually as Jeongin launched into dramatic hysterics. He made to turn back to Jeongin to continue teasing him, but his attention snagged on a certain dark-haired, darker-eyed boy, who was leaning against the wall and staring at the ceiling as if lost in thought. He stood and walked over to Hyunjin, leaving Jeongin’s whining behind.

 

“See anything interesting?” Seungmin greeted, sitting next to the other boy and pulling his knees to his chest.

 

“This’ll probably be of no interest to you, but I studied rock formations in high school,” Hyunjin said softly. “Crystal formations, volcanic rock, rare minerals- it was an introductory course, and I took it because the field trips kept me away from home for just that little bit longer, you know? It didn’t really impact my life at all, if that’s what you’re wondering. If you asked me to talk to you about rocks, I wouldn’t be able to say much.” He sighed. “But what I  _ can  _ tell you is that those little bumpy things on the ceiling are informally referred to as “popcorn” formations, and those lines over there are called “cave bacon”.

 

“Some geologist was hungry when he named cave formations,” Seungmin remarked.

 

Hyunjin chuckled half heartedly. “All these stalagmites and stalactites? They grew over the course of thousands of years. That water over there- no, to your left.“ He gently turned Seungmin’s head to face a small trickle of water that had dyed the ceiling and wall orange and white over time. “That water is the cause of everything you see in here. Of course, its direction has shifted over time, but each drop contains a tiny bit of calcium. And as it drips from the ceiling…” he traced the outline of a stalactite- “to the floor, it deposits that calcium. Like an icicle. And over time, things like this begin to form.” 

 

They took in the natural wonder that was the witches’ den. The luminescent crystals that dotted the ceiling like stars (seriously, those had to be charmed), to the waterfall-like formations of rock that tumbled down the wall, to the hollowed-out stalagmites that had been altered to suit the witches’ needs.

 

“I think the thing that amazes me the most is the sheer amount of time for something like this to form,” Hyunjin said, expression neutral and voice even more so.

 

Hyunjin was good at faking serenity.

 

“You should tell me more about the rocks later,” Seungmin said, resting his cheek on his knees. “But what’s bothering you?”

 

“Nothing, I’m as peaceful as a summer’s day,” Hyunjin said, snorting softly. “Where did that question even come from?”

 

“I don’t believe that.” Seungmin leaned a bit closer, eyes darting around Hyunjin’s face. “Stop hiding, you can trust me.”

 

Hyunjin could’ve sworn his gaze rested on his lips for just a breath too long, but too quickly that moment was gone and Seungmin was staring into Hyunjin’s eyes, and Hyunjin felt him tearing down the concrete walls and defensive barriers he had set up in his head one by one, and soon enough Seungmin was peering directly into Hyunjin’s raw and cowering soul.

 

Not for the first time today, Hyunjin cursed Seungmin’s perceptiveness. 

 

“It’s…” he shifted, grimacing. “It’s Minho, I guess. I mean, there’s a ton of other stuff- like, how are we supposed to defeat this demon? And how are we gonna get you guys to college like you deserve? And how will the Sixth Moon curse play out? But all that stuff doesn’t even seem real sometimes, like it’s hidden behind a mile of dense fog.”

 

Seungmin hid his shock at Hyunjin’s concern over their education. Right now, he was focusing on Hyunjin, and Hyunjin alone. He forced the rest of the world to fall away.

 

“The thing I can’t stop thinking about is Minho. Yeah, I think about him all the time, he’s kinda one of my closest friends— but he’s been really weird recently, you know?”

 

Seungmin knew. Or at least, he knew now. It was relieving to know Minho wasn’t generally like... this.

 

“Like, it’s happened in increments so it was hard to tell, but he’s…” Hyunjin tipped his head back, resting it against the wall. Seungmin’s eyes traced the bob of his adam’s apple as he swallowed. “Today, I realized it. When he got so angry, and for whatever reason, I could just  _ feel  _ his anger. He’s not the same person he was when we got here. He’s changed. And I don’t know why- actually, this is just plain stupid- I don’t know why, but I feel like that’s scarier than the demon,” Hyunjin stuttered. He turned to Seungmin, who had never moved his eyes from Hyunjin- not even once. “Is that stupid?” He whispered, voice weak and barely audible. 

 

Seungmin felt his hands tremble for a moment at the panic and confusion in Hyunjin’s eyes.

 

“That’s- no, that’s not stupid at all,” he mumbled. “You’re worried about him. The rest of us are too, but it affects you and Felix differently, since you actually  _ know  _ him, since he’s part of your family.”

 

Hyunjin made a small sound of disagreement, but Seungmin ignored it and pressed forward.

 

“And it affects you especially, Hyunjin. Don’t think you can fool us with your icy prince thing. I know you feel things deeper than the rest of us do. If someone’s hurting, you hurt just as much. If someone’s hurting someone else _ …”  _ he sucked in a deep breath. “You may try to hide it, but things cut into you  _ deep.  _ And with the way Minho’s been treating you and everyone else recently, of course it’s gonna catch your attention.”

 

“Maybe,” Hyunjin responded. “But my feelings don’t matter, they never did. What matters is that something’s hurting Minho, and we can’t do anything about it.”

 

“No! Don’t you  _ dare  _ say that!” Seungmin snatched Hyunjin’s hands and pulled them to him, forcing the taller boy to jump out of his stupor and turn to the younger boy.

 

Seungmin stared at Hyunjin with wide eyes and warm cheeks, desperate to make Hyunjin understand just how important he really was. 

 

“Your feelings matter just as much as Minho’s, whether he’s dealing with some weird paranormal thing or not! Every time you say you don’t matter, you believe it even more!” 

 

Hyunjin gaped at Seungmin, aghast. 

 

“I- it hurts me so much to hear you say things like that,” Seungmin said, cheeks flushing even more, chin trembling. But he couldn’t stop now, not now that Hyunjin was listening to him, not now that he was finally able to speak his mind. “You’re incredible, unstoppable. You could have the world, and you’re the only thing holding yourself back.  _ Please understand!” _

 

Seungmin dropped Hyunjin’s hands, looking down at his own. He felt his eyes get hot, and blinked repeatedly to force back the tears. One escaped and rolled down his cheek, but he did nothing to wipe it away.

 

“Please understand,” he repeated, closing his eyes. “You’re everything.”

 

Warm, hesitant fingers brushed against his lips, taking his tears with them. He shivered as they pulled away, but soon they were back, cupping his face. Hyunjin rested his forehead against Seungmin’s.

 

“You know it’s impossible for me believe you,” he whispered. His breath ghosted across Seungmin’s face. “But for you, I’ll try. I’ll try. I’ll...”

 

Seungmin wrapped his arms around Hyunjin, who had finally broken down.

 

And as he cradled the sobbing boy, he wondered if it was possible to love someone after having known them for such a short time.

 

If it was possible for him to love this boy who yearned to feel nothing, but felt everything instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On twt i said i came up w some rlly creepy stuff for this chap but I’m actually gonna wait until chap 13 hehe
> 
> Also! I made a playlist for this fic! You can find it [here.](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1JkfWz3r79pVNpkEjNc1hl?si=7qCagJCMRHGgiZpWKMxNhg) Listen for spookiness and a general feeling of impending doom.


	13. The Townspeople Receive a Gift

_ It was hot. _

 

_ That was the first thing Minho noticed when he woke up in the great grey expanse, lying on his back and staring into the murky oblivion above him. _

 

_ With more than a little effort, he sat up. _

 

_ This heat wasn’t the bright, summery warmth he was used to, the heat that turned the asphalt into a sandal-melting stovetop and beat down on grass until it was brown and dry. _

 

_ Instead, it seeped into his bones, made him sluggish and heavy, set his insides on fire. His hair clung to his sweaty forehead in clumps. _

 

_ Why couldn’t he ever have a lucid dream where he was comfortable?  _

 

_ He knew the drill by now, so with a dramatic groan, he hoisted himself up to his feet and began shambling through the gray.  _

 

_ “I can’t ever have one normal nap,” he muttered between labored breaths. “I wish the thing would just show up already. Guh.” _

 

_ The thing, of course, was the strange being that roamed this void. _

 

_ And so he wandered. For how long, he wasn’t really sure. He had no specific direction, no aim. _

 

_ That is, until he saw something New. _

 

_ In the distance, he saw a blight on the gray dreamspace, a black haze that trembled and twitched like a squashed bug. Squinting, he began building up the energy to walk again. _

 

_ “You’ll want to stay away from that.” _

 

_ Moving his feet was too hard, so Minho turned his head instead. _

 

_ Behind him stood the strange figure he often encountered in these surreal dreams. It was unstable, form glitching and fuzzy like static.  _

 

_ This dream held all sorts of New, apparently. The figure had never spoken to him before. Its voice fitted its appearance- vague, scratchy, like it was being picked up from a faraway radio station. There was a human voice in there, somewhere, but it was overwhelmed by interference to the point where he couldn’t even discern whether it was masculine or feminine. _

 

_ “Why?” _

 

_ The figure shifted a little. It was hard to tell, but it looked like it had turned its head to look at the blight.  _

 

_ “You’ll find out eventually. But for now, it’s in your best interest to stay away.” _

 

_ Minho scoffed. “Who knew a talking glitch could be so nice?” _

 

_ The thing turned its head back to him. “A glitch? What do you mean?” _

 

_ Minho stuttered a bit. “You- that’s how you look, like a glitch. Sorry, that’s the best way I can describe it.” _

 

_ The thing lifted its hazy arms and stared at its hands. “I haven’t looked at myself in so long. Is that really how I appear?” _

 

_ “Yeah,” Minho said, confused. The being didn’t even know what it looked like? _

 

_ They regarded each other for a few seconds. _

 

_ “So, since you’re here, and we’re talking to each other,” Minho said hesitantly, “Could you tell me who you are? Why you’re here?” _

 

_ The being shifted. “Who I am… I’m not sure you’re ready to hea-“ _

 

_ It stopped speaking, as abruptly as though it had been put on pause. Its relaxed body posture stiffened, until it was all straight (albeit hazy) lines and shapes. It took a step forward, then another, with infinitely less effort than it took Minho to walk.  _

 

_ Stopping mere inches from Minho, the figure froze. Minho felt increasingly skittish by the second, staring into the staticky void of its face. _

 

_ Then, the thing’s hand was wrapped around Minho’s neck, squeezing as it lifted him off the ground.  _

 

_ Minho was absolutely still for a split second, shocked into silence by the abrupt change in the thing’s personality; but as his brain caught up with his reality, he began kicking, struggling to escape its iron grip. _

 

_ “Let- me down-“ he choked, desperately grasping at the thing’s hand that was crushing his windpipe. _

 

_ Distantly, he noticed that touching it felt like his limbs falling asleep, like a jolt of prickly electricity shooting through his nerves and screaming at his brain. _

 

_ His flailing limbs hit something solid, and his eyes shot open. _

 

“Minho! Wake up! C’mon dude- OUCH, fu-“

 

Minho was still being held down, even outside of the dream. Panting wildly, he yanked his arms out of the grip of whatever was restricting him to claw at his neck. It burned; it felt like the static had forced its way into him and turned his throat into a hive of angry hornets.

 

“Stop! You’ll make it worse!” 

 

“Move aside, Felix.”

 

Minho jolted as a bucket of ice-cold water assailed his face, and he stopped long enough for someone to grab his hands again.

 

“Take it easy, Minho. It was just a… dream.”

 

The voice was calm and honey-smooth, and so were the strong hands gently but firmly holding his. Minho gulped (his throat hurt. Why did his throat hurt?) and forced his eyes to focus on the kind face in front of him.

 

“You’re safe now, Minho,” Woojin said, holding Minho’s gaze. “You’re gonna be ok.”

 

Minho grounded himself in Woojin’s steady eyes, focusing so he breathed in time with Woojin’s own slow rhythm.

 

“That’s it,” Woojin said, leaning back and pulling Minho up with him. 

 

“What- what happened?” Minho’s voice was hoarse, scraping so painfully that Jeongin winced beside Woojin.

 

“You were having a nightmare,” Yves said, leaning against a column-like stalactite. “Or at least, that’s how it started.”

 

Choerry stumbled into the group, breathing heavily and clutching something in her arms. She knelt and undid the latches, lifting the lid and selecting the items she needed.

 

“What’s that?” Minho asked, even though it was obviously some form of a first aid kit. 

 

“We need to treat your throat,” she said. “Before it tries to treat itself and gets you sick.”

 

“You see,” Seungmin said, “It didn’t stay a nightmare for long. Jeongin was going to wake you up, but then your neck turned red and then started  _ smoking. _ ” He shuddered. “It honestly looked like your neck was gonna catch on fire or something, so we woke everyone else up to try and help.”

 

Minho grimaced at the large crowd of people standing over him, eyes glinting with concern.

 

Choerry scooted over, some kind of cream coating a rag she held in her hands.

 

“This is gonna hurt,” she warned. “It’s gonna remove all the… skin.”

 

“The skin?” Minho asked, before howling in pain as Choerry began dabbing at his throat.

 

A slender hand gripped his. He’d held it enough to know it was Hyunjin’s.

 

He ignored the strange impulse to yank his hand out of his friend’s and instead focused on the contact, searching for the feeling of Hyunjin’s soft hand in his through the fiery red-hot pain enveloping his throat.

 

Eventually the pain ebbed into a throb, and Minho turned his head fast enough to see Choerry handing Jinsoul the cloth, now coated in black char.

 

His throat now felt raw, exposed. The dry cavern air was icy cold. He lifted his hand to touch his neck, but was stopped by Hyunjin.

 

“You don’t wanna do that,” he advised quietly.

 

Choerry leaned back in, a salve in one hand and various herbs in the other.

 

“The nice thing about being in a witches den,” she said, dabbing the salve on with her middle finger, “is that we’ve got everything you need for a speedy recovery right here.” She gently pressed the herbs onto his throat and wrapped a bandage around it. Instantly, he was soothed by whatever mixture Choerry had concocted as it neutralized the exposed flesh.

 

“It’s a cool look,” Seungmin mused. “Minho’s gonna be wearing a lot of turtlenecks from now on, though. Who wants to be his cover story? Anybody ever had a crush on Minho?”

 

Minho gave Seungmin a fantastic stink-eye.

 

“I’m not sure I wanna go back to sleep,” Jeongin said, eyeing Minho’s neck nervously. “Whatever did that to him is still out there.”

 

“For whatever reason, it only seems to be targeting me,” Minho said, examining his hands. “It can’t seem to be bothered to come for the rest of you.”

 

“Are you saying we aren’t worthy of being haunted by weird creatures?” Felix gasped in mock offense. 

 

Minho sighed and leaned back against the wall, in the same position he had slept in. He didn’t give Felix a response.

 

Minho didn’t see it, but Felix’s expression dropped almost immediately. Somehow Minho had been back to his regular self after he awoke from the nightmare, but he was quickly receding back into the sulky, short-tempered Minho they’d been dealing with ever since they arrived in town.

 

The crowd slowly dispersed after Jinsoul muttered something about it being the ‘witching hour’, returning to their corners and blanket piles on the floor. The witches disappeared into an adjoining cavern, presumably to do witching hour stuff. And Minho? He stared at the distant ceiling for the rest of the night, too afraid to fall back asleep.

 

———

 

“Alright guys, it’s NCT time,” Seungmin announced, switching on various lamps and gently kicking the groaning lumps on the floor. “You gotta wakey!”

 

“Seungmin, please,” Jeongin cried, wrapping himself deeper into his blanket. “It’s… eleven a.m. Oh.”

 

“That’s right,” Seungmin said, pulling his phone away from Jeongin’s face, where it had been showing him the hour. “And we want sufficient time to get back to town and into the presumed safety of our own homes!”

 

“The clouds are heavy today, so sunset will come sooner than you think,” Kim Lip said, sauntering into the cavern and unceremoniously banging a heavy, jewel encrusted sword against the wall. The resulting sound was aggressively loud and obnoxious, until Minho seized Kim Lip’s wrist and gave her a long, blank stare. She returned the stare, shrugged, and left the room, sword slung over her shoulder.

 

She had accomplished her mission, though. The ragged group of weary ghost hunters had jumped up in various levels of panic, and were blinking in confusion now that the invasive clang of the sword had ceased.

 

Singlehandedly, Seungmin dragged ten other people into the main cavern, with the exception of Minho, who ripped his arm out of Seungmin’s grip with a sneer and stalked out on his own, the white bandage on his neck blending into his ashen skin.

 

“Nice to see you’re all up and functioning, to some degree,” Jinsoul drawled from her seat at the table, a mug of suspicious blue liquid cupped in her slender hands. “I would offer you guys some tea, but I can’t guarantee you would survive to see the bottom of the cup.”

 

“Nah, I prefer my mornings free of lethal beverages,” Hyunjin responded lazily, picking up his bag from the entrance.

 

Jeongin bumped Seungmin with his shoulder. “Take note.”

 

Seungmin shoved him away, unfortunately directly into Choerry, who dropped the large bag she had been holding to her chest.

 

“I made- umf-“

 

Jeongin and Choerry scrambled for a few seconds to collect the small tinfoil lumps that had scattered as the bag fell to the ground.

 

“I made food for the trail,” Choerry continued, blowing a stray strand of twilight hair out of her face. “It’s nothing special, just something to keep your strength up until you reach the car.”

 

Woojin accepted the bag with a slight bow and a thank you, then passed it to Felix so he could slip on his windbreaker.

 

“You guys have about four hours until it grows dark,” Kim Lip warned, emerging from a side cavern. “I suggest you get a move on.”

 

“Noted,” Woojin said, retrieving the bag from Felix’s arms. “Let’s go.”

 

Despite their drive to move quickly, it took them a while to climb the stairs. This is because Minho, shaky and wan, took each step as if it was an individual mountain.

 

“You’re sure you don’t want help,” Hyunjin said, leaning over to peer into Minho’s glassy eyes.

 

“You’ve done enough,” Minho growled, pushing Hyunjin to the side of the tunnel.

 

“He’s getting worse,” Seungmin remarked as he stepped up to stand next to Hyunjin. “Both in his physical condition and his… attitude.”

 

“What does he mean by ‘you’ve done enough’,” Hyunjin muttered. “What did I do? Did I do something?” This last question was directed at Seungmin, who was regarding Hyunjin with concern.

 

“Honestly, Jin,” he sighed, turning to look at Minho, who had climbed 3 steps further. “I wouldn’t take it personally. Minho is lashing out at everyone. I’m sure he doesn’t mean it.”

 

“You know I can’t not take it personally,” Hyunjin pouted. “I take everything personally.”

 

“That’s true, that’s true,” Seungmin nodded. “I never said you wouldn’t take it personally, I just said  _ I  _ wouldn’t take it personally.”

 

“I hate you,” Hyunjin scoffed.

 

“Nah, you love me. Admit it.”

 

“I’d rather die!”

 

“Can you two just walk?” Yves said wearily.

 

They walked.

 

Emerging from the church to the world above above was blinding, them all having grown accustomed to the darkness of the caverns below, but the surface was so bleak that their eyes adjusted quickly.

 

“This is so weird,” Felix commented, tugging Woojin’s sleeve to get his attention. “Mist is supposed to be like… an early morning thing, right? I can’t see ten feet in front of us.”

 

“Fantastic! Now we can’t even look out for ourselves,” Heejin grumbled.

 

“I’m more worried about the sky,” Jeongin said, neck craned to stare upwards. “It’s nearly black, and the clouds are hanging so low, I bet I could touch them if I strained.”

 

He raised his hand, but didn’t make contact with any clouds. It was, after all, simply a demonstration of a figure of speech.

 

“Stop wasting time,” Minho said, already striding towards the trail.

 

Readjusting jackets or, in Woojin’s case, Choerry’s bag of snacks, they began making their way down the path.

 

———

 

“Hey, Woojin?”

 

Woojin turned his head to the side, where Hyunjin had begun to match paces with him.

 

“What’s up?”

 

“Well…” Hyunjin rubbed his hand as they walked, unconsciously. He nervously glanced towards the front of the pack, where Minho was trudging onwards with no regards towards his surroundings, minus the trail.

 

“You’re worried about Minho.”

 

“Yeah,” Hyunjin confirmed. “We didn’t really acknowledge it last night, but he was almost his normal self for a little while. But now I think he’s just gotten worse.”

 

“I noticed that too,” Woojin said. “I wish I knew what was happening with him. Whatever the case, he clearly isn’t the right state of mind right now, so don’t trust anything he says. We can’t even be sure it’s him saying it.”

 

“But what if he’s saying things he’s always thought, but never said out loud?”

 

“Is this referring to when he told you ‘you’ve done enough’?”

 

Hyunjin’s face soured. “Among other things.”

 

“Honestly, I don’t think you’ve done anything,” Woojin said. “Unless it happened before you arrived, in which case I can’t help you. But from what I’ve seen, you’ve always treated Minho with a high level of care. And- correct me if I’m wrong- Minho never hesitates to say what’s on his mind. He may be blunt, but it’s important to him that you guys understand what he’s thinking. If he really held this much animosity towards you, I think you would know.”

 

Hyunjin nodded reluctantly. They continued on in silence, Jeongin and Gowon occasionally making quiet conversation behind them.

 

Something snapped on the trail, far ahead of them. Woojin hushed the sparse conversation and they stood stationary, ears straining for any indication of another presence.

 

There was another snap, and then a gust of hot air blew into their faces. A faint orange glow illuminated the mist ahead of them.

 

Cautiously, Woojin stepped past the others. Even Minho- who had been walking mindlessly- had frozen, so Woojin passed him too.

 

Woojin wandered blindly for about 30 feet, but stopped when he felt hot air on his face. Holding up a hand to shield himself, he regarded the scene in front of him.

 

Directly in the middle of the trail, an ancient tree twisted to about his height. It must have appeared there overnight, as he did not recall it being there the previous day.

 

The tree was blazing, white-hot flames licking up the trunk and shriveling the sparse leaves.

 

He glanced around; there was no obvious catalyst, no stray sparks or lightning streaking from the sky. The tree was simply… on fire.

 

He jumped when he found a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Seungmin staring wide-eyed. The rest of the group followed.

 

“That’s cute,” said Yves. “How are we supposed to get around?”

 

“Acknowledge the message, and the tree will go away,” Minho said. He was leaning up against one of the tall, youngertrees on the edge of the path. Not casually, as he may have done in the past, but heavily, the tree being the only thing keeping him upright when he wasn’t moving.

 

“The… message,” Felix repeated. “Minho, you’re really the only one here who can channel that energy and turn it into something useful.”

 

“Figure it out,” Minho responded, picking at a hangnail and avoiding Felix’s eyes. “You’re not much good as a ghost hunter if you can’t do that, at least.”

 

“Harsh,” Felix muttered, turning back towards the tree.

 

“Wait, there’s a paper on one of the branches,” Olivia exclaimed. “It’s on fire, though.”

 

Chuu stepped towards the tree and reached a hand towards the paper.

 

“Chuu! It’s literally on fire! Don’t-“

 

Chuu plucked the paper from the branch and blew on it a few times. The flame went out.

 

Walking back to the group and sucking on her slightly reddened pointer finger, she unfolded the paper and read it silently. She sighed and handed it to Woojin, who chose to read it aloud.

 

_ “Those who seek to stop me will burn,”  _ he read. “Man, this demon has watched too many cheesy horror movies.” He craned his head up to the sky, an unamused expression on his face. “We’ve acknowledged your message. Doesn’t us trying to stop you make it more fun, oh omnipotent one?”

 

The tree began wheezing, crumpling into itself like paper. Within a minute, there was nothing left but coals. Yves kicked one, sending it sputtering sparks down the trail. “What a dumb demon.”

 

“He would only do that if he were feeling threatened by us,” Gowon remarked. “We must be doing something right.”

 

They continued forward, carefully stepping over the glowing embers. What no one saw was Jeongin pausing, eyes widening in fear at the hazy figure standing within the trees.

 

———

 

“There they are,” Seungmin sing-songed. “Car one and car two. Car one being Woojin’s, obviously!”

 

“Hold up,” Yves said. “Before we all jump in and make our getaway, it really would be best if we checked to make sure everything’s alright with the cars.”

 

“True,” Woojin mused. “Plenty of other things have been tampered with. We can’t be sure they’re safe anymore.”

 

Minho stalked up to Woojin’s car and kicked it. There was some rattling, but nobody could say it hadn’t been there before. “It’s fine,” he grumbled, crossing over to the passenger seat.

 

Olivia had lifted the hood of their own car and was ticking off the different components within.

 

“Well, that sucks,” she deadpanned. “Our spark plug is gone.”

 

Yves kicked a tree and spouted some unseemly words. The tree responded by dropping some rotting crabapples on her head. Her curses got more creative.

 

“My car still has its spark plug,” Woojin said, from underneath his hood. “But our gas is gone. How much have you got?”

 

“Nearly a full tank,” Chuu said, everlasting smile dawning on her face. She peered into the trunk of Woojin’s car. “How many people do you think we can fit in there? Three? Four?”

 

“We’ll fit however many we need to fit,” Woojin replied grimly. 

 

“We managed to fit Heejin and Hyunjin as well as the six of us the other day,” Felix pointed out. “What’s four more?”

 

The car groaned in dismay, and then the back tire popped. They all watched as it sagged.

 

This time, Yves  _ and  _ Woojin were kicking the crabapple tree. 

 

There was rummaging in the trunk, and then Olivia emerged with a jack and a wrench.

 

“Somebody help me pick up the spare tire,” she said. “I haven’t done anything with these arms for a  _ year. _ I can’t get it myself.”

 

Woojin left the crabapple tree and lifted the tire. Together, they changed it and threw the blown one in the back.

 

“Anything else?” Woojin asked, glaring at his car.

 

It didn’t blow up or anything, so people began piling inside. The back only fit 3 people, so Hyunjin and Felix ended up standing on the rear bumper, holding on for dear life. The car sagged again, but this time it was under the weight of twelve people somehow fitting inside.

 

“Honestly, I’m proud of us,” Woojin said as they puttered back into town.

 

“Speak for yourself,” Jeongin squeaked, trapped in the backseat between three other people and under Gowon, who had stretched herself out over them all and was dozing off with her head in Olivia’s lap.

 

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you over our fantastic use of space,” Woojin responded.

 

Jeongin sighed and, with more than a little effort, pulled his arms out from underneath Gowon. This was going to be a long ride.

 

———

 

It was a hot, dry day, the kind that required nothing but the thought of a spark to set the pale brown brush on the side of the road ablaze.

 

Felix realized this as the aggressively hot wind blew in his face and threatened to knock him off his precarious perch on the back of the car. They weren’t going fast at all, just the standard 25 mph down Main Street; and yet, it felt as though he were standing in front of a hairdryer on the highest setting.

 

He and Hyunjin had been silent the majority of the ride, but it seemed now like Hyunjin was attempting to voice a thought. He mouthed something, clenched his teeth, and shot Felix a nervous glance.

 

Felix decided to help him. “What’s up?”

 

“Something’s wrong,” Hyunjin said. “Can’t you feel it?”

 

Felix leaned to look at the roadside. Storefronts were quickly turning into residential neighborhoods, and the houses looked as run down as ever. Nothing obvious had changed.

 

“I’m gonna be honest with you, something’s been wrong since we got here,” Felix said. “Maybe you’re just now beginning to see it.”

 

A window rolled down, and Seungmin popped his head out. “Something’s wrong,” he called, echoing Hyunjin. He held out his arm to show the clarity sigil, which was glowing faintly.

 

“I feel it too,” Hyunjin called back. “How close is it?”

 

Seungmin turned his head to look down the street, then back to the boys clinging to the car. They were fully in the residential part of town now.

 

“It’s all around us,” he said. The wind made the hair on the back of his head stand straight up.

 

And then, his hair flattened, because the car had stopped. Felix looked to see what the reason was, but there was nothing but road ahead of them and houses to the side.

 

Then he looked closer at the houses.

 

At the entryway of multiple houses was a mound of small, white objects. Felix hopped off the car and walked to the driver’s side, where Woojin had rolled down his window.

 

“Everybody’s saying something’s wrong,” Woojin said.

 

Felix pointed a thumb behind him. “There’s something weird happening with the houses. I’m gonna go look.”

 

“Be careful,” Woojin warned. Felix flashed his protection sigil in response.

 

The road was hot and sticky as Felix approached the nearest house. He even paused once to check the bottom of his shoe, and wasn’t surprised to find the tread slightly melted out of shape. Shaking his head, he crossed the yellow lawn and peered at the mound on the doorstep.

 

The objects within the mound were varied in shapes and sizes, but as Felix got closer, he realized they all had one thing in common:

 

They were bones.

 

Resisting his impulse to turn around and walk right out of town, Felix gingerly retrieved a tiny skull resting on top of the pile. It appeared canine in nature.

 

The door swung open abruptly, and Felix nearly tumbled down the stairs. A woman with graying hair emerged.

 

“Pip? Whe- who are you?”

 

“Oh,” he fumbled, straightening up and placing one foot in front of the bone pile. “I’m from… the high school. We’re doing a fundraiser for an… overnight trip to… the city.” He pointed back at the car and threw them an exaggerated grin. Woojin waved.

 

“Oh, I’m afraid I don’t have much money to help you kids,” she said. “If it’s not too much to ask, though, would you kids mind keeping an eye out for my dog? I’ve searched the entire house and the yard and he’s nowhere to be seen. He’s absolutely tiny, but he’s black, so he shouldn’t be too hard to find in this terrain.”

 

Felix suddenly felt very queasy.  “Of course, ma’am. We’ll bring him back if we find him.”

 

“I appreciate it,” she said. Pulling out a wallet from a purse hanging from the door, she continued, “It’s not much, but I hope this helps.”

 

“O-oh,” Felix said, accepting a ten dollar bill. “Thank you very much, ma’am. We’ll keep an eye out for your dog.”

 

“Thank you,” she said, then retreated back into her house.

 

Felix kicked the bones off the side of the steps and walked back to the car slowly, the bill crumpled in his tight fist. When he reached the window, he tossed the money into Woojin’s lap.

 

“The house pets,” he said. “They’re gone.”

 

“Gone?”

 

“Nothing but bones,” Felix affirmed. “Some houses don’t have pets, which would explain why they don’t have bone piles at the door. But that woman was looking for her dog…” he held up the tiny skull, which he had accidentally stowed in his coat pocket. “I found him.”

 

Woojin began to speak, but was interrupted by a sob from the backseat.

 

Jeongin quivered, curled inward and face buried in his hands. Gowon slipped off the laps of everyone in the backseat and knelt at Jeongin’s side, one hand on his shoulder.

 

“Hey, Jeongin,” she said, leaning to see his face. “What’s up, dude?”

 

“It’s taken them again,” he cried, voice breaking. “Every last one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My excuse for taking this long: writers block???? ((I totally wasn’t binging various thriller/horror tv shows on netflix nope)
> 
> Anyways i start my first semester of uni in abt two weeks so I’ll try to post one more chapter before that happens. This chap is low key boring but I’m thinking this is probably the end of the first half so things are rlly gonna pick up from here... enjoy the filler chapters while u still can heehee
> 
> If you’ve been missing 3racha and especially a certain han jisung who has been suspiciously absent thus far, don’t worry they’ll be here soon ;))
> 
> As always, thank you for your continued support!! Let me know if you like this chapter and if you have any Theories about what might happen next!!!


	14. Showdown at Woojin’s Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// brief violence

“Again?” Felix muttered, as Gowon began whispering pacifying phrases to help Jeongin calm down. 

 

“Shut  _ up, _ ” Minho groaned, only to receive a not-so-gentle pat on the head from Yves.

 

“Can you take a moment to, like, observe what’s going on around you?” She said, face twisted in disapproval. Minho batted her hand away, glaring murder.

 

“Felix, hop back on the car,” Woojin said softly, unnerved by the drama from the backseat and the dead quiet of the world outside. “We gotta get home, because sitting here in the open is just asking for trouble.”

 

Felix swallowed harshly, trying to force away the lump in his throat. He silently returned to the back bumper, to be joined by Hyunjin.

 

“Where’d you head off to?” Felix said, trying his best to act like he hadn’t just seen piles of morbidly deceased pets and subsequently caused Jeongin’s breakdown.

 

“Oh. Well, Seungmin’s place is right over there, he wanted me to check and make sure his aunt was ok given this… issue.”

 

“And she’s ok?”

 

“She’s fine,” Hyunjin affirmed. “Was a little surprised to meet me. She told me she didn’t expect to meet me so soon, and that I didn’t sound like a real person from what Seungmin had told her about me, whatever that’s supposed to mean. But anyways, they don’t have any pets, so no traumatizing gifts on the doorstep.”

 

“That’s so weird,” Felix said as the car lurched into motion. “Seungmin totally seems to be the kind of guy to have a dog, though. A big, fluffy one. Maybe two.”

 

“Have you  _ seen  _ that boy? They don’t need a dog, they’ve already got a puppy,” Hyunjin scoffed. “Besides, I think you’re projecting your love of dogs onto him.”

 

“I’m gonna ignore the fact that you essentially just called Seungmin a puppy,” Felix said, as the car turned the corner into Woojin’s cul-de-sac.

 

“Just because you’re ignoring it doesn’t mean I’m wrong,” Hyunjin replied, hopping off as soon as the car came to a halt. He scrambled to open the back door (he did have  _ manners,  _ after all), then stepped back as people began spilling from the car.

 

The last to crawl out of the backseat was Jeongin. He was still obviously quite shaken, cheeks pale and eyes wide, but he was no longer quaking with fear and shock. Hyunjin threw an arm over his shoulder and guided him to the house, and then it was just the car alone on the driveway, leaning oddly to the side due to the mismatched spare tire. Woojin threw his arm over his shoulder, pressing the button that locked the car with a dejected beep. 

 

Pushing through the throng of mentally and emotionally drained friends, Woojin inserted his key into the lock and pushed open the door. The group rolled through the hallway, but immediately crashed into one another as Woojin halted abruptly upon reaching the main room.

 

“This is bad,” he said, voice flat. “This is very, very bad. We should’ve stayed in The Circle.”

 

On the kitchen table sat a filthy teddy bear, mouth gaping and empty, seams torn and eyes nowhere to be found. Sitting next to it, arranged almost artfully in a neat pyramid, was a mound of rotting teeth.

 

———

 

“There’s no way our hotel room can accommodate everybody,” Hyunjin said.

 

“My dad is remodeling half our house, there isn’t even space for our family,” Heejin said, at the same time.

 

They were back in Woojin’s car. After walking into the main room and seeing the cursed teddy bear sitting casually on the table, they had turned right around and walked right out of the house.

 

Currently, there was no solid plan on what to do next; it was true that there were several people within the car who had places of residence in town, but none of their places were large enough to support the sheer number of people who were now involved in this fiasco.

 

“The size of the place isn’t the problem,” Yves countered. “If anything, we could split up and stay at several places. The  _ problem  _ is that this thing knows our moves, it knows the places we go to, and it knows what gets to us.”

 

“And at this point, we want to stick together,” Seungmin mused. “But we don’t  _ all  _ have to be together, right? We just need a large enough group of people that we can keep an eye out for each other.”

 

There were a few hems and haws, but eventually everybody reluctantly agreed.

 

“We could always go back to the Circle,” Felix suggested.

 

“My parents are getting kinda anxious,” Jeongin mumbled. “I’m in constant contact with them, but it’s not enough. They need to see me, and I’m not sure how long they’ll allow me to ‘stay at Woojin’s’.”

 

“Also, being here means we may observe more of what’s happening,” Olivia said. “It may be more dangerous, but it’s better than being far away and not being able to intervene if something happens.”

 

“I wish I could be as courageous as you,” Felix sighed. “I’m honestly terrified.”

 

“I’d be worried if you weren’t,” Woojin said. 

 

“We still need somewhere to go,” Chuu reminded.

 

“If we go to my house, could we grab some snacks?”

 

“Oh my  _ God,”  _ Minho groaned.

 

A knock on the car window made everyone jump. Outside, barely visible in the faint daylight, a shadow stood against the wall.

 

“Either that’s Changbin, or we’re about to die,” Felix said, oddly calm.

 

(Felix did not bother to mention that the shadow’s silhouette was distinctly Changbin’s; he’d know that figure anywhere.)

 

Things got a little more complicated when two more shadows were thrown up on the wall. Standing next to Changbin was a marginally taller man, an obvious tangle of curls surrounding his head like a misshapen halo.

 

“That one’s Chan,” Woojin supplied.

 

On the other side of the door on the opposite wall stood a hazy figure. It was darker than the other two, as if it was more corporeal, more present. Nobody spoke up to assign an identity to the ominous third person, whose height and form changed with every moment, spasming back and forth and up and down, distorted and warped by the texture of the wall behind it.

 

It was silent.

 

Six clarity sigils lit up in unison.

 

And then came a choking sound from the backseat. Minho‘s throat seared red, his face darkening crimson by the second. His hands flailed awkwardly, grasping at the door, at the seat, at Chuu beside him. The relative peace was shattered instantly as the car exploded with movement, Hyunjin and Jeongin clutching each other in fear, Woojin splaying himself over the middle island to grab frantically at Minho (for truly, he had no idea what to do), and all the while, the three figures remained thrown up against the wall.

 

Minho, whose vision was shrouded in haze and prickly darkness, forced his eyes to focus on the disfigured shadow, who appeared to have turned its head towards the car. He continued staring at it as it peeled off the wall and, in a corporeal form of static and noise, approached the car until it stood right in front of his window. The other two spirits, of course, attempted to stop it; they stretched out faint arms and grasped at its shoulder, stepped in front of it. But their interference did nothing to hinder it- it shrugged out of their grasp, stepped through their translucent bodies. When it reached the car it did not bend down; instead, it simply stood and reached a hand straight through the glass and held it, fingers splayed, in front of his face.

 

Minho stopped struggling. In fact, he stopped doing things at all. He slumped in his seat, eyes fluttered shut, palms open and facing the ceiling. 

 

The glitchy figure withdrew its hand and walked away.

 

The other two figures stayed where they were, having frozen the moment Minho fell still.

 

All was silent again.

 

And then Felix began to wail. “It’s killed him! Minho’s gone and that thing killed him and we never should’ve come and-“

 

A hand clamped aggressively over his mouth. Minho was wide awake, eyes narrowed and face sunken. His blank, dead-fish eyes bored into Felix’s own panicked ones. His lips were drawn back in a vicious snarl.

 

“I’ve had enough of your bawling,” he cautioned, tight-lipped and trembling with irritation. His hand tightened around Felix’s mouth. “Stop or I’ll stop it for you.”

 

“Hey, hands off,” Woojin said, wrestling Minho’s hand off of Felix’s mouth and down to his side, where his fingernails dug crescents into the cracked leather seat.

 

Felix inhaled shakily and caught movement outside. It was just Changbin now, doing some mime routine.

 

“Now is not the time for charades,” Felix muttered softly. Changbin stopped moving and disappeared.

 

“Remember, this isn’t his fault,” came a gravelly voice right next to his ear, and Felix did his best not to jump.“The Minho you know is still in there somewhere.”

 

“Deep, deep down, kinda somewhere,” Felix whispered back.

 

“Yeah. Way deep.”

 

The freezing presence over his shoulder receded, and Changbin left. 

 

“Well,” Woojin said, “I really don’t know what to do anymore. I can’t think of any good, safe options.” 

 

It was quiet for a minute, and then Jeongin spoke up. “I think the situation has degraded to the point where there’s no possible way to be safe, even if we’re all together, so I think we should still split up. If we stay in groups but go seperate ways, we can’t be targeted all at once, right?”

 

“But how do you know it can’t have multiple manifestations,” Yves countered.

 

“I don’t,” said Jeongin, “but I think it’s worth a try.”

 

“We’ll all be in town anyways,” Gowon chirped from the trunk. “And town is so small, it really won’t be hard to find some kind of central point or something.”

 

“This really doesn’t feel right,” Heejin said. “But I really think we’re stuck either way. We might as well try Jeongin’s suggestion.”

 

Hyunjin pulled out her phone and started typing a message. “Vivi and Haseul live together,” she said, “but they’re the only ones in the house, so they should have room. I’m texting them right now, just in case.”

 

“Our hotel room should be able to fit a few more people,” Felix offered. Minho scoffed at that, but stayed quiet.

 

“My place is available too,” Seungmin said.

 

“The largest group needs to go to Haseul and Vivi’s,” said Woojin, “since none of them have any form of sigil. Also, we need to keep partners together.”

 

Hyunjin’s phone buzzed. “Haseul and Vivi say ok,” she said, throwing out a thumbs up. 

 

“I propose Seungmin, Hyunjin, Gowon and Olivia at Seungmin’s place,” said Woojin. “Minho, Felix, Yves and Chuu at Vivi and Haseul’s place, and Jeongin, me, Heejin and Hyunjin at the hotel.” He paused for a moment, then added, “Yeojin can go wherever she feels like.”

 

“I think that’ll work,” Felix said. “But why are Minho and I not at the hotel? That’s where all our stuff is.”

 

“Well, you know…” Woojin trailed off. “In case Minho gets targeted by that thing again, there needs to be a sufficient number of people to… figure that out.”

 

“Fair enough.”

 

Woojin turned back around and started the car. “We’ll stop at Vivi and Haseul’s first, then Seungmin’s, and then the hotel. Everybody make sure to keep your phone on you, in case someone needs to make contact. Other than that… good luck, I guess.”

 

Vivi and Haseul’s place was nice. Relatively speaking, of course. Compared to Woojin’s tiny apartment, the place was spacious and well kept. There was an indication of floral life in the front garden, though it had dried to a crisp a long while ago. The sidewalk leading to the front door was solid and level. Woojin muttered something about tripping hazards as Minho, Felix, Yves and Chuu were greeted at the front door by Yeojin. Felix glanced back to wave goodbye, but he tripped over the threshold when Minho pushed him through the door.

 

“Yikes,” commented Seungmin. “Not to be mean or anything- that’s Minho’s job- but I’m glad I’m not stuck with him as a partner. Poor Felix.”

 

Hyunjin wrung his hands nervously. “Don’t judge too quickly, you know he’s not usually like this.  He can be blunt, but he’s never been cruel before. He’s just… going through it.”

 

“Looks like he’s evolved,” Seungmin responded dryly. Then, a little more reluctantly, “someday he’s actually gonna hurt someone.”

 

“They can handle him,” Hyunjin muttered, but his eyes were alight with worry. Seungmin grabbed his hand and squeezed.

 

“Ok, we’re coming up on Seungmin’s house,” Woojin said from the front. He said nothing about what the boys had been discussing, but his brow was furrowed, his usual kind smile wiped from his lips. “Remember to keep in touch.”

 

“We will,” Gowon said, slinging her backpack over her shoulders. The four of them traipsed up the steps and waited as Seungmin retrieved his key and let them in.

 

“And now it’s just us,” Heejin said.

 

“It feels weird not being around a bunch of loud kids,” Jeongin complained.

 

“Jeongin, you’re one of the youngest people here,” Woojin admonished, then paused. “Wait. You two are kids, too,” he said, looking at Hyunjin and Heejin through the rear view mirror.

 

They flashed a peace sign in unison.

 

“I’ve trapped myself with a bunch of teenagers,” Woojin realized, eyes wide in mock horror.

 

“As if you don’t hang out with a bunch of teenagers on the daily,” Heejin argued.

 

“That was uncalled for,” Woojin muttered as they pulled into the hotel parking lot. The vacancy sign was flickering in shades of crimson and violet, lighting the cracking paint of the walls and flashing off of dusty windows. They were the only car in the parking lot.

 

“Ok cute, loving the vibes,” Jeongin said, hopping out of the car, typing out a message to his mom. “Mom said she’s gonna bring us food. She wants to be sure, and I quote, that I wasn’t ‘replaced by some gross slimy monster’ and left to die in the forest.”

 

“Pleasant,” said Woojin, struggling to fit the key into the keyhole. The lock clicked and they stepped inside.

 

On the bed closest to the wall was a notebook splayed open, words written large and stark in black marker. Stepping closer, Woojin realized it was a note.

 

_ Things are heating up _

_ How long before we burn? _

_ Be wary of those whom you hate _

_ And hate only those whom you are wary of. _

 

There was no signature. The marker which had written the note sat on the windowsill, mangled and dripping midnight into the carpet.

 

And when Woojin went to pick up the notebook, his fingers came back smeared. The ink was still fresh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven’t checked to see how long its been since i’ve posted but uh. sorry for disappearing i just completed my first month of uni and its been an absolute whirlwind
> 
> I should have time to write occasionally so!!!! I expect gw to be finished before the school year is over. we’re probably abt 2/3 of the way through so
> 
> I’d love to hear your thoughts on this chap!!!! It’s shorter than usual but a lot happens so,, rip to skz and loona lmao
> 
> As always, thank you for your continued support!!

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy the name’s Chels and you can come bother me on [twitter](https://mobile.twitter.com/gravberry)


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